


There's No Air in Space

by ALittleLampPost



Category: Jessica Jones (TV)
Genre: Cute, F/F, Fluff, Jessica Jones - Freeform, Post-Canon, Romance, trishica - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-13
Updated: 2016-06-03
Packaged: 2018-06-08 02:16:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 21,778
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6834964
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ALittleLampPost/pseuds/ALittleLampPost
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Kilgrave nearly got a hold of Trish, Jessica internally panics. She needs to talk to Trish ASAP because she could have lost her and she deserves to know. </p><p>Basically all fluff, Trish and Jessica being cute together</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Yelling, apologies, sappy speeches and ignored phone calls

Jessica groaned and harshly turned on her back, staring up at the ceiling. She stretched her arm and picked her boot off the floor, and while putting all her strength into a swing her boot forcefully hit the ceiling as she yelled “SHUT THE FUCK UP!” to whoever had just moved in upstairs. The boot caused more of the ceiling plaster to come off, but it was too early to acknowledge this, leading to nothing happening any time soon to fix it.

Five minutes later another groan came out of the raven haired woman as she gave up on falling back to sleep and dragged herself out of bed and into the bathroom. Thinking a nice hot shower would soften this morning and prepare her for the day, that’s exactly what she did. Only what was meant to ease her mind, resulted in a rather anxiety inducing thought session:

 _It’s been two weeks, Jessica. It’s time to talk to her again, she needs you. Not to mention you need her. Ugh I need to tell her, damn it! But how do you tell someone who has been your best friend for years and years, someone who has always been there for you, not matter how shitty you’ve acted towards them in a drunken state or how off-putting you are to everyone else in a sober state, that you love her? That you have loved her since you were fifteen?_ “Hey, Trish, sorry I’ve been AWOL these past weeks, how’ve you been? Good? Good. I love you.” _Yeah, I think not. Oh come on, Jessica, you killed the man who made your life a living hell the past years, he’s gone. You almost lost her. She deserves to know, so tell her. This is your chance to be happy, so you take it._

As Jessica got dressed she finally decided it was time to talk to Trish. Really talk to Trish. She grabbed her scarf and jacket and all but ran out the door, trying to reach Trish’s place before she changed her mind. Lost in a mental self-pep talk, she crashed right into Malcolm who was just about to knock on her door.

“Hey, Jessica, I was just gonna stop by and see if you had a minute to talk? I’ve been thinking about your PI work, and I was thinking we could get a separate line for case calls! That way everyone wouldn’t have to call your cell phone, instead they could call a landline that I could be in charge of. To lighten your load a little bit maybe. Only if you want to though, I don’t mean to push you or anything, I just thought it could be-”

“Thanks, Malcolm, but I’m a little bit busy right now, we’ll talk when I get back? Great. Later!” Jessica answered as she started picking up speed again, racing down the hall and into the elevator. _Breathe, Jessica. It’s just Trish, you’re fine, you’re totally fine. Just calm down, you can do this._  

\----------------------------------------------

Jessica reached Trish’s apartment building much faster than she normally would, and she was now stood outside looking up, contemplating whether to take the elevator inside, like a normal person, or simply jump to her balcony. _At least try to get off to a good start, and for Christ’s sake stop being nervous._ With that thought she walked towards the door where a man opened it for her with a cheery “morning, miss Jones!” _How does that guy know my name?_ She approached the elevator and internally cursed herself for not planning out what exactly to say when she got up there. Was she supposed to just throw it out there? Or should she start with some small talk maybe? Actually, make that an apology. Going AWOL for two weeks because you’re an insecure idiot is definitely apology worthy. _God, I shouldn’t have done this so early, whiskey probably makes stuff like this easier. Rookie mistake, huh?_

The elevator dinged, signalling this was it. She’d made it up to Trish’s floor and was now standing outside her steel door. _Jesus, Trish, you shouldn’t have to worry for your safety like this. But who’s fault is that? Exactly, it’s you, you fucker._ Taking a deep breath, Jessica finally rang the doorbell and anxiously waited. Though she only stood there for about 30 seconds, she could have sworn it felt like hours, days even. She didn’t hear Trish speak, but she could have sworn she heard someone breathing. She instantly straightened up, tried to flatten her already very flat hair, and did a double take of her outfit, _I should have worn something nicer._

Trish saw Jessica being all nervous like, and had a hard time hiding her smile, _she’s kinda cute when she’s nervous._ A minute went by, Trish simply looking at Jessica through the security camera still not knowing what to say. Jessica had been ignoring her for two weeks, and now here she was. Outside her door, her actual door, not her balcony. _She’s making an effort; the least you can do is say something._  She supposed this was because she was trying to apologise, but she wasn’t sure she wanted to hear it. Trish was hurt, Jessica had left her once before and now it felt as if it were happening all over again and it hurt like hell. _God, if she only knew how she makes me feel. If only she knew she means the world to me._

Jessica, on the other side of the door, had trouble stopping her rambling once she had a go at it. “Hey, Trish… I know you’re there, I can hear you breathing”. Trish tensed upon hearing this, as she wasn’t even aware she was still pressing the output button, let alone that her breathing was that loud. “It’s okay, you don’t have to talk right now, I know I’ve been an ass. I’m sorry. I’m sorry for not answering any of your calls or messages over these past two weeks, not even to tell you I’m okay. I’m sorry for making you worry. For hurting you… But most of all for leaving.” Jessica sighed already feeling defeated. If Trish wouldn’t even open the door and face her, what were the chances of her feeling the same way? Maybe this is a mistake, she thought to herself, now sitting down in front of Trish’s door while letting her eyes fall to the floor.

A few minutes later Trish still hadn’t said a word, but she was sure Jessica could still hear her breathing. She was purposefully pressing the output button now to ensure Jessica that she was there, and she was listening. She was still thinking about what she wanted to say. She wanted to be angry and yell at Jessica for being an idiot, call her an ass and be mad at her, but she couldn’t. After all these years, Trish had learnt that Jessica goes into hiding when she doesn’t know how to cope anymore, when she needs space. _Damn it, Jessica, why do you do this? Can’t you see how happy you make me?_ Trish wanted to say, but something inside of her stopped her.

Trish was so lost in thought that she almost didn’t see Jessica getting up off the floor, head hung low, slowly making her way to the elevator again. Once she did notice, she pushed the door open and all but ran towards Jessica, grabbing her arm just as she was stepping into the elevator, “Jess, wait” she said. Jessica’s head snapped up, eyes looking as tired as ever as she looked into Trish’s eyes searching for something, _anything,_ that would indicate Trish would feel the same and this was the beginning of whatever it was she wanted. Moments later, her eyes fell to where Trish’s hand was still resting on her arm, and Trish, following Jessica’s eyes, realised she was still holding her forearm and perhaps too quickly let go. Now feeling increasingly self-conscious, Trish’s eyes fell to the ground before her as she cautiously asked “uhh… Come inside? Please?” Trying not to smile too wide at the sight of a seemingly nervous Trish, Jessica simply stepped out of the elevator and signalled for Trish to lead the way.

Once inside, Trish realised she had no idea what she wanted to say, if she was happy or sad, angry or relieved, scared or nervous. Whatever it was she was actually feeling she set aside, _that’s a problem for later_. “What’s going on Jessica? You practically disappeared for two weeks and now you show up again, at my actual door might I add… I thought you’d disappeared again. I thought I’d lost you again, Jess…” Trish’s voice was on the verge of breaking, both she and Jessica heard it. _Okay, so I guess sad and hurt would be it then!_ Trish thought.

Jessica, increasingly feeling worse seeing Trish upset, patted the seat next to her on the couch. Trish came and sat down where she’d patted, feeling nervous, scared to move too close to Jessica thinking she might scare her off if she did come too close. Surprisingly, Jessica put her arm around Trish, who put her head down on her shoulder and sighed. They sat like this for a few minutes, enjoying each other’s company, before Jessica broke the silence. “I’m here, Trish, I’m not leaving” Jessica said, gently squeezing her shoulder to let her know she was really there. She knows she’s done this before, she knows how it hurts Trish, yet she can’t help but think her being there causes more damage. “I’m sorry I haven’t gotten in touch these past weeks, I was just trying to figure out what to say-“

“How about ‘hey, Trish, let’s grab lunch tomorrow!’ or ‘hey, let’s have a movie night like we used to’? Anything would’ve been good, really...” _Also a little angry then,_ Trish thought as she lifted her head off Jessica’s shoulder, turning to fully face her.

Jessica let out an airy laugh as she raised an eyebrow, “lunch? Really, Trish? Come on, at least be realistic.”

Feeling her anger take over, Trish finally gave in and let Jessica have it “God, can you just not go into defence mode for one second and own up? You’ve been AWOL for two weeks, and now you seriously manage to just laugh it away? Come on Jessica, for once just talk to me without being an ass!”

“I said I’m sorry! But I’m here, I’m not leaving. I promise I’m not…” Jessica was trying not to lose her temper because she still wanted to tell Trish how she feels today, and she’d rather do that when Trish is not upset with her. Having said that, Jessica had been known to lose her temper over nothing in the past, and based on her recent comment, this argument was going to be no different from that.

Seeing how Jessica was trying to keep her anger at bay, Trish softened a little bit and simply replied “I thought I’d lost you again. It hurts so, so, much when you leave, Jess… Don’t leave.”

Jessica could feel her heart breaking at what Trish had just said. She tried to talk, but she couldn’t. She tried to tell Trish she was there, she wasn’t leaving, she couldn’t leave. Whenever she tried to open her mouth all that came out was a stuttering “I- I didn’t- I never- That’s not-“, which was growing increasingly frustrating. Taking a deep breath, fixating her glance at the hands in her lap, she finally said “I wasn’t trying to ignore you, or escape – even if I may have wanted to at one point or another. I wasn’t trying to hurt you… When we were facing Kilgrave that night, I realised for once I may be the one losing you, and the thought of that killed me. Trish, I need you. I couldn’t leave these past weeks because I need you. The thought of losing you makes my heart clench and hurt, without you I don’t think I could carry on.” At this point in the speech, Trish had a feeling she knew where this was going, and it was all a little bit overwhelming, so she was simply sat cross legged on the couch facing Jessica, staring, waiting for her to go on. “I was trying to find out how I could tell you, I wanted to make this something big, but then I realised I’ve never been very good at making things look good ehe… I never meant to ignore you, I just spaced out trying to figure out how to tell you that I love you.”

Jessica finally looked up and met Trish’s eyes, trying to read her expression, _is she happy? Angry? Disappointed? Sad?_ A few minutes went by with Jessica deep in thought, Trish trying to find the words she was looking for while still looking at Jessica with wide eyes. She could see Jessica was growing increasingly nervous by the minute, her eyes nervously looking around the room – looking for an exit. Trish repeatedly opening and closing her mouth, no words coming out, made Jessica think she’d made a mistake. She panicked and eventually she couldn’t take it anymore, she needed to leave. She needed to leave now. _Way to go, Jones, way to fuck that relationship up too. God, everything you touch turns to shit, doesn’t it?_

Trish was left speechless. She was happy, God, so happy. She’d imagined this happening so many times before, and she was even starting to doubt if this was real or not. She sat there staring at Jessica, so lost in thought she completely missed Jessica racing out of the room and out of the apartment. _Oh my God. She loves me, Jessica loves me._  

\----------------------------------------------

Trish woke up the next morning still unable to believe what happened the previous night. _I love you,_ she thought, _she said she loves me…_ Unable to hold back a grin, she buried her face further into the pillow and lightly squealed for a moment before repeating, out loud this time, “she said she loves me”.

Jessica, still wandering aimlessly around Hells Kitchen trying to decipher Trish’s face form last night was looking tired and worn out, having not slept at all this night. _It looked kind of like… disappointment? Nah, her disappointed face is different, I’ve seen that. Maybe it was relief? Could have been relief. Not very likely though, having me in her life can’t possibly be much of a stress reliever… What was it?_ With one last groan, Jessica decided to head back to her apartment, nothing would help take her mind off this like a good old ‘husband cheats on wife with young hot secretary’ case. She was sure Malcolm was up by now, ready to get to it, and for once she was grateful for that.

\----------------------------------------------

It was now almost 3pm, and Trish was tired of waiting. She’d tried calling Jessica several times today, she’d left several messages, but her calls were all left unanswered and unreturned. She even called Malcolm at one point, who’d been as sweet as ever, but sadly not getting her in touch with Jessica. She knew Jessica was there though, she could tell Malcolm was covering for her. For once, she didn’t mind Jessica not answering, because this time she knew exactly why she was being ignored, and she knew Jessica hadn’t left. Knowing this, she smiled to herself, typing out a message to Jessica in hopes of reaching her this time.

Jessica had spent the day with Malcolm looking over cases, and even solving a few, that had come in over the past weeks. She had given the go-ahead on Malcolm’s little phone project, and Trish had tried to call her 5 times. Every time she’d just watched her name and picture appear and disappear, not picking up once too afraid of what might await her. Malcolm even got a call from Trish once, and she desperately begged him not to let Trish know she was with him. She was embarrassed of Malcolm’s lying abilities, it had been a long time since she’d heard something so horrible, but he just shrugged telling her there was a reason for that. It was around 3pm when she received a text from Trish. _A text, maybe she’s done calling and she’s turning me down via text istead. Might as well get it over with then,_ Jessica thought to herself. She opened the text

Trish: Are you messing with me? Because if you are, I swear to God I will do… Something.

Jessica almost snorted at that, threats had never been Trish’s forte. _Wait. Does this mean she’s not turning me down? Does this mean she feels the same?_ Nervous to find out, she still wanted to know and felt ready for whatever was to come next. Hoping for the best and expecting the worst, she typed out her reply

Trish, surprised at the quick response, even more surprised by any response at all, couldn’t open the text quickly enough

Jessica: Not messing with you.

 _Not messing with you, she’s not messing with me. She meant it…_ A face splitting grin took over Trish’s face as she typed her answer, already standing up from the couch ready to run

Trish: Don’t leave. I’m on my way. I love you.


	2. Butterflies, a moondance (or two?) and sore cheeks

Trish was out the door quicker than ever before, forgetting to bring a jacket in the process. Halfway on her way to Jessica’s she realised she’d practically been running, and finally slowed down.

_She loves me._

A smile instantly spread across her face. She’d been dreaming of this for so long, and here she was, on her way to see the love of her life – who happens to love her back despite her crazy – walking in what she now realised was a colder than expected day. _God, Trish, you couldn’t have brought a jacket in your dramatically-storming-out-of-your-house scene?_ She didn’t really mind though, nothing could bring her down, not today. No, right now, she was on top of the world.

\----------------------------------------------

Ten minutes later Jessica was still stood staring at her phone screen, unable to fully process what the message read.

_She loves me._

_And she’s coming over here, snap out of it, Jones! Cleaning time._ In less than a minute she’d already managed to pick up a few – okay a lot – of empty whiskey bottles lying around on her way from her bedroom to her living room. She quickly made up some crazy excuse to chase Malcolm out of her apartment. Malcolm, looking confused and not fully understanding what Jessica was going on about, decided not to fight it and said his goodbyes before leaving Jessica to her frantic… Whatever it was she was doing.

Once Jessica had managed to throw out all the empty bottles, she looked down and realised she was still wearing the same old clothes she had been the day before. She was slightly panicking as she ran to her bedroom trying to find something better – something nicer – to wear. _Jesus, Jessica, your wardrobe is practically non-existent!_ Frustrated with herself for not having anything nicer to wear, she simply changed into a different pair of jeans, a top and an only-worn-once-since-laundry day black and blue plaid shirt. Looking at herself in the mirror she thought to herself, _meh, it’ll have to do._

\----------------------------------------------

Trish was now stood outside of Jessica’s building, and she was only just now realising she had no idea what she was doing. She hadn’t exactly planned out a speech like Jessica had the night before, she hadn’t planned what she was going to do, she hadn’t even checked what she was wearing was looking okay. All these thoughts started to make her panic a little bit, and she grew increasingly nervous, but was determined not to back out. _I’m here, I want this – I want Jessica. And for some crazy reason, she wants me too. I’m not backing out._ And with that she was walking inside, _huh, someone should probably lock that door…_

While in the elevator, Trish tried to decide what to say and what to do. She came up empty, and by the time she was standing in front of Jessica’s door she started worrying if she should have gone about this differently. Staring at the door window, _Alias Investigations,_ she started to calm down. This was it. Too late to turn back now. She couldn’t be bothered knocking, _it’s just Jessica, it’s not like it even matters_. She nervously reached for the door knob, twisted it, and opened the door to reveal the one and only Jessica Jones.

Jessica had been standing in front of her desk facing the door for what felt like hours just waiting for Trish to get there, but now that she was here, although a sight for sore eyes, that same panic she felt yesterday before she ran away was starting to come back. Luckily, before she could act on it and run out on Trish once again, Trish gave her that shy smile of hers. The genuine Trish smile, the smile reserved for only Jessica, the smile that made Jessica’s heart feel funny.

“So…” Trish finally said as she broke the silence, taking a step towards Jessica. “You’re not messing with me...?”

“Nope” was all Jessica could answer, she was too busy getting lost in Trish’s eyes, those piercing green eyes that seemed to hold the secrets of the universe – secrets she wanted to discover with Trish.

“And you couldn’t keep going if something happened to me”, she took another step closer to Jessica, whose nerves Trish had definitely picked up on by now.

Jessica shook her head, willing her nerves to go away, trying to untie her tongue so she could say something. _Come on, Jones, you’re beginning to look like a fool just standing there, say something!_

“And you need me. You stayed because you need me…”

At this point Jessica was starting to wonder if Trish was repeating this more to herself than Jessica, but she still replied “yes. It’s you, Trish, it’s always been you.”

Trish’s heart skipped a beat, and as she took one last step she said “and you love me.”

Jessica smiled and cupped Trish’s cheeks, holding her face as if it was the most important thing is the world, _always so strikingly beautiful._ She glanced down at Trish’s lips before looking back to her eyes and leaning forward all at once, connecting their lips for the first time in a soft kiss. The moment their lips met, Trish’s hands found their way to Jessica’s waist and she felt the need to hold on in order to not float away. Trish felt like the sun, the butterflies in her stomach going crazy. Jessica was feeling nothing less, she was seeing fireworks and feeling like she was walking on the moon- no, she was dancing on the moon. Never in her life had anything felt so right, never in her life had she felt completely at ease.

When they broke away from the simple, yet so perfect kiss, they were both smiling like two lovesick fools – which in their defence was exactly what they were. Trish let her forehead fall to Jessica’s as she closed her eyes, trying her best to savour this moment while Jessica tried to calm her erratically beating heart, wounding her harms around Trish’s neck.

“I love you” Jessica said, breaking the comfortable silence they’d both fallen under simply enjoying the others company.

Trish opened her eyes then, and still smiling as wide as ever she pecked Jessica’s lips before saying “I love you.”

\----------------------------------------------

Trish had dragged Jessica to her bedroom only to snort when she saw Jessica’s signature smirk and raised eyebrows, “keep it in your pants, Jones, I just wanted to cuddle. Don’t be a perv” she said, causing Jessica to erupt into laughter. Such a genuine laughter was something Trish hadn’t heard in years, and the sight of Jessica seemingly content and happy for a change caused her own smile to spread across her face and she couldn’t help but think _what an idiot._ My _idiot._

While Jessica tried to calm herself down, Trish splayed out on the bed, having all the time in the world to watch her beautiful mess of a… Girlfriend? They would have to talk about that at some point. She had all the time in the world to watch her beautiful mess laugh her ass off, Jessica’s laughter was a sound she was sure she would never get sick of. “Jess, come on. I wasn’t even that funny! Now come here and hold me.”

Trying to form coherent sentences not broken up by laughter, Jessica was collected enough to say “it’s not that you were funny, it’s that you assumed I was thinking about sex! We haven’t even had our first date yet, at least buy a girl dinner before you fuck her. God, Trish, that’s not even what I want.” Jessica saw Trish’s eyebrow shoot up and quickly continued, “well I mean I do want… _That._ But not only that, that’s not even what I like the most about you. I want _you_ , Trish. All of you.”

Trish’s heart swelled at the confession Jessica had just made, she wasn’t usually the emotional type. Obviously now that Jessica had confessed such things, despite her adoration growing for the other woman, she was going to have to take advantage of it. “So then what _do_ you like about me, Jess?” she said mockingly.

Jessica, of course, knew exactly what Trish was doing, but she was too over the moon to care. She meant what she’d just said, and she was okay with Trish knowing. Having said that, she was still going to have to make a snarky comment to get Trish’s head back down to normal size. “Oh, I don’t know, besides your pretty face it really is hard to find something likeable about you.”

“So you think I’m pretty, huh?”

_Damn, that backfired…_ _Oh well, only one thing left to do,_ “Trish, I think you are completely and undoubtedly the most beautiful human being there is. Inside and out. You are so kind, and passionate, and strikingly beautiful, and I will never understand how you can love an old rag like myself. Luckily, knowing that, I will always try to be better for you. Because you deserve the world.”

Trish was silent for a few moments before in a nonchalant tone saying “wow what a cliché you are, Jones…”

“Fuck you”, Jessica laughed as she flopped down on the bed besides Trish.

“You know,” Trish started while turning to lie on her side so she could look at Jessica, “you can be really amazing sometimes, Jess.”

Jessica copied Trish’s actions and turned to her side to face Trish as well before sincerely saying “I’ve been called a lot of things, Trish, amazing is not one of them.” She gave a half smile before continuing, “plus, if any one of us is amazing, it is definitely you.”

Trish felt tears well up in her eyes and she willed them away. She looked at Jessica for a moment before leaning in and gently kissing her. Jessica responded immediately and pulled Trish closer by the waist, thinking she could probably get used to dancing on the moon.

Trish was the one to pull away from the kiss, only to be met with Jessica’s pouting face. She giggled and pecked her nose before laying her head down on Jessica’s chest and sighing contently. Jessica slightly tensed up as Trish did this, but quickly recovered, realising this is what she wanted too. For once, they both felt as if all was right in the world.

Letting a comfortable silence fall over the two, Jessica was feeling drowsy and wanted to take a nap, however Trish had been bothered by something for a while now and she just had to ask “Hey, Jess?”

“Hmm?”

“What the hell happened to the ceiling?”

Jessica, once again, fell into a fit of laughter, thinking this was the last thing she expected to hear, and also the most random for a while. Mid laugh she managed to croak out “Oh that?” she was trying so hard to hold back laughter but some of it still bubbled through, “I threw one of my boots at the ceiling full force this morning…”

Trish stilled for a moment thinking who the hell would throw a shoe so hard at the ceiling it would start falling apart? _Only Jessica…_ With that she started laughing too, and soon their laughter was the only sound filling the room, a much welcomed sound in the old dark cave of an apartment Jessica lived in. _Someone should fix that,_ Trish thought to herself, making a mental note to get back to it at a later point when she was not too busy being engulfed in the scent and feeling and all that was Jessica.

\----------------------------------------------

Trish woke to the feeling of Jessica trailing her fingers through her hair, feeling as if everything was perfect. “Did I fall asleep?” she asked. Jessica momentarily stilled her hand in Trish’s hair, only to receive a whine in protest from the blonde. Of course she could never deny Trish any of her wishes, so she continued.

“Yep. About an hour ago.”

“Why did you let me fall asleep? You could have woken me up when you realised, Jess… I’m sorry.”

Jessica just smiled, kissed Trish’s temple, and said “nah… You were clearly tired, and I definitely don’t mind as long as I get to be a creep and stare at you the whole time.”

Trish snorted at this, “I repeat: don’t be a perv, Jess, doesn’t suit you.”

Jessica laughed and said “whatever you say, Sleeping Beauty…”

 

\----------------------------------------------

The two had ordered takeout and they were now sat on Jessica’s bed with boxes of nearly every food there is spread out between them. Every now and then Trish would stop eating and just look at Jessica for a few moments while Jessica, oblivious to Trish’s ogling, would keep her eyes focused on the food she was eating, a small smile firmly placed on her face courtesy of the one and only Patricia Walker.

Jessica suddenly broke the silence, asking “when do fish sleep?”

Trish was looking more confused than ever before she was sure. _When do fish sleep? What the fuck?_ “Uhh… What?” was all she could manage to say before falling into a fit of laughter that Jessica soon fell into with her as she realised she hadn’t shared her train of thought, simply the question at the end of it.

Once they both finally calmed down, Trish managed to, somewhat undisturbed by laughter, say “God, you’re messed up… When do fish sleep? How did you even think to ask that?”

“Hey! Hurtful.” Jessica answered with a pout, “I just forgot I wasn’t thinking out loud for a second, it happens to the best of us!”

A minute later Trish’s laugher finally completely died down, and both hers and Jessica’s cheeks hurt from all the laughter and smiling that had happened all day. Trish reached out and took Jessica’s hands in her own to get her attention, and while Jessica was looking at her with a puzzled expression, all she said was “hey”.  

Jessica let out a breathy laugh before smiling and responding with a “sup?”

“I love you.” The butterflies in Jessica’s stomach went crazy again as she heard it.

_She loves me_.

“I’m sorry,” Trish half laughed, cheeks reddening as she was feeling slightly embarrassed for her sudden confession, “I just really love you. You make me happy.”

Jessica smiled as she leaned forward and pecked her lips, “I really love you too. I always have.”

_She really loves me. She’s always loved me._

“I was serious though, I really want to know when fish sleep.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two chapters in two days... Not too shabby. Now let's see how long I can keep that up! 
> 
> Also, to be egotistical and self promoting for a second, I have a tumblr: alittlelamppost.tumblr.com. Do with that information what you will!


	3. Remembering the little things, feather lifting and pouting

They’d decided to spend the night at Jessica’s, mostly because neither of them wanted to move and go outside and face the world right now. Trish was still worrying about what they were, _girlfriends? Friends with benefits? Actually scratch that, that is not happening._ And Jessica was already fighting her nerves, trying to think of a way to ask Trish out on a proper date. She’d wanted to make some big romantic gesture to explain to Trish that she’d always been in love with her, but by now that ship had sailed. Instead, she wanted their first date to be something grand, she wanted to ask Trish to officially be hers. _Hers,_ Jessica thought, she liked the idea of that.

Trish had fallen asleep around an hour ago, and Jessica was content with a sleeping Trish in her arms. _She looks so peaceful, so happy._ Jessica couldn’t help but smile at the sight, and just then, Trish threw her leg over Jessica’s in her sleep. Momentarily tensing up at the movement, a little bit scared to be caught staring at Trish sleeping because _that would be creepy, Jessica,_ but soon enough relaxing again, closing her eyes and slowly drifting off to sleep.

\----------------------------------------------

“Jess…” Trish whispered, but no answer. “Jessica…” she tried again, but still no answer, no movement. _Fucks sake,_ “Jessica,” she said once more, louder this time which resulted in a groan from the raven haired beauty. A smile crept on to Trish’s lips, _we have contact._ “You have to get up, I’m hungry” she simply stated.

Jessica still didn’t open her eyes or move, and lying on her stomach, face practically buried in her pillow, she murmured something that sounded a lot like “it’s too early Trish, go back to sleep”.

Trish checked the time, 11:23am, _too early my ass. I’m still hungry…_ And with that thought, she had an idea. She sat up and straddled Jessica, bending to place a soft kiss to her neck. Jessica finally moved, meaning she turned to lie on her back to be more comfortable, but she still didn’t open her eyes. Trish placed a kiss to her left cheek, then her right. By now she could see Jessica was trying her best to hide a smile. She then kissed her nose, resulting in Jessica cutely scrunching it up for a second, before finally bringing their lips together. Jessica responded immediately while she wound her arms around Trish’s neck. It was soft and filled with love, but before Jessica could do anything to deepen it, Trish pulled back and was sat looking at Jessica’s pouting lips with the flashiest grin ever. “Hey, you’re awake! Let’s get some food, I’m hungry” she said, “and don’t you dare roll your eyes at me!”

Jessica did, of course, roll her eyes at Trish, before acting like a wise ass. “Well, I’m not the reason you’re not eating right now, I’m not the one physically restraining me.”

Trish was sat just looking at Jessica for a moment in disbelief before, “you’re right, I’m sorry. I’ll just get up so you can go back to sleep.” She started moving off Jessica, who quickly pulled Trish back down so she was practically laid on top of her. “Uhmm, Jess? You’re gonna have to let me go unless you want me to starve.”

Jessica just shook her head and tightened her hold on Trish. Trish’s heart skipped a beat at the gesture, but kept at it, “Seriously, just a minute ago you were telling me I was restraining you, mixed signals much?”

Jessica just kept on holding Trish for a few minutes until she loosened her grip and said “you’re right, you should get off so you can eat. I mean it is getting kinda hard to breathe under here...”

Trish lifted off Jessica then to slap her arm, “hush your face, we both know I weight close to nothing in your arms.”

A smirk found its way to Jessica’s face, and before Trish could register what was going on she squealed as she was lifted and carried by Jessica from the bed to the small kitchen of Jessica’s apartment. She didn’t mind though - not at all - so she simply laid her head down on Jessica’s shoulder letting her do her thing. After all, she was literally no heavier than a feather in Jessica’s arms.

Jessica sat her down and opened her fridge. The sight of its content made her grimace as she thought to herself _damn, I forgot my diet has rarely consisted of more than Whiskey and the occasional takeout these last few years._ “So… I’ve got nothing.”

“I know” Trish laughed.

“Oh… Well, I can run and get us some bagels and coffee if you’d like? I’ll only be like ten minutes?”

Trish smiled, “sure.” She could see how Jessica was definitely trying to better around her, all morning the worst comment she’d gotten was… Well, there was nothing. Her smile grew wider as she thought about how she was the reason Jessica was happy right now, which is exactly how she like it to be.

“O-kay… I will be right back! You just keep sitting here doing… That. Whatever that is, smiling like a creep at nothing in particular? I don’t know, and I’m not sure I care, so you just keep at it!” And with one last shake of her head, Jessica was out the door and probably halfway down the street before Trish zoned back into reality and figured she might as well go back to bed while Jessica was out, _no reason being up when I have no reason to be anyway!_  

\----------------------------------------------

 _Damn, Jones, it’s been less than 24 hours and you’re already volunteering to go out to buy breakfast. Breakfast. I mean, of all the meals of the day, you had to pick the early one? Way to go, good work there,_ Jessica thought as she turned the corner. She felt weird, surprisingly giddy and happy, and that was weird, especially considering how early it was. She wasn’t bothered by it though. Quite the opposite actually, she was embracing this feeling, knowing the woman she loved also loved her back made her hopeful. Trish made her feel warm, loved, safe. Trish made her feel like she was enough, like she was more than the heartless asshole everyone else saw when they looked at her, like she was good. With all this in mind, there was no doubt Jessica would have to do something absolutely brilliant for their date to make Trish see everything she was in Jessica’s eyes. Of course that would also mean she had to man up and actually ask Trish out. _You can do it. You can buy bagels and coffee at 11:30 in the morning, you can ask the love of your life out on a date – no big deal._

\----------------------------------------------

When Jessica walked into her apartment, bagels, cream cheese and coffee’s in hand, Trish was fast asleep in her bed, her hunger long forgotten. Jessica was stood in the doorway for what would, to a normal person anyway, seem like a few minutes too long. She just couldn’t stop staring. Sure Trish was flawed like every other person, but her flaws were a part of who she was and what made her her. Jessica could never ask Trish to change, she wouldn’t. Over the years her love for ever part of Trish had only grown stronger: her flaws, her smile, her beautiful eyes, her voice – her real voice, not that radio host bullshit. _Damn, Jessica, you really are in love._

Standing in the doorway, looking at her peaceful face, Jessica couldn’t help but let a grin take her face before she grabbed the two coffee’s she’d gotten and walked over to the bed. She sat the coffee’s down on the bedside table before taking a seat at the edge of the bed, which of course caused Trish to stir at the movement who turned around so she was facing Jessica. Blinking the sleepiness out of her eyes, she smiled up at the brunette and found her hand to intertwine their fingers. Jessica smiled back, and with her free hand she carefully removed a strand of hair out of Trish’s face to tuck it behind her ear.

“Hey, sleepyhead” Jessica softly said, “I’ve got fresh bagels, cream cheese and coffee – one cream, two sugars, right?”

Trish raised her eyebrows at this, _she remembered something so insignificant,_ she thought, but nodded either way. She sat up, still tired and rubbing her eyes before she was met with Jessica’s pouting face, clearly waiting for a kiss. She let out a small laugh before asking “What? What are you doing, what is that face?”

“Excuse me?” Jessica said in a fake hurt tone, “this is just my face, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I’m talking about this,” Trish poked at Jessica’s out-sticking bottom lip for emphasis, “this expression you’re trying to make, what is it?”

“Oh this?” Jessica exaggerated a pouty face and could see Trish was trying hard not to smile, “this is how my face always is! Nothing new about it, same ugly mug you’ve always been looking at, Trish.”

That was it, Trish finally broke and started laughing, with Jessica following closely behind, finding the sound of Trish’s laughter ever so lovely. “Well if nothing is new, I suppose this is as good a time as any to ask you to please go get the bagels you got us? I’m still hungry because someone still hasn’t fed me!”  

Jessica rolled her eyes, and got up with an exasperated sigh. Trish, of course, ignored the sigh and reached for her coffee. But just as she was about to take a sip, Jessica quickly pecked her lips, getting exactly what she wanted before walking out of the room, leaving a smiling Trish behind. _It’s perfect. This whole morning is perfect,_ Trish thought. Little did she know, right down the hall, Jessica was thinking the exact same thing.

\----------------------------------------------

When they’d finished eating, Trish and Jessica were both sitting cross legged, opposite one another on the bed. Jessica had Trish’s hands in her own, tracing letters and creating words in Trish’s palm. Neither feeling the need to talk. Well, except Trish might have been thinking about something.

“Were you ever going to tell me?”

Jessica looked up then, confusion clearly written on her face, “huh?”

“If he hadn’t come back, if Kilgrave hadn’t come back and he hadn’t tried to take me away from you, were you still going to tell me?”

“I’ve always wanted to tell you, Trish…” Jessica said, staring down at her lap fidgeting with their hands. She was suddenly feeling nervous, but she was determined not to mess things up, and she wanted Trish to know. “I realised when we were fifteen that I loved you. I wanted to tell you then, I wanted to be the one to protect you, I wanted to be the one who took care of you when you were sick, I wanted to be yours. But at the same time, I realised I wasn’t good for you, many other people were better. So I decided to push away whatever I was feeling at the time and try to protect you, and keep you safe, in my own little unnoticeable ways. When everything with Kilgrave happened and I left, I thought it was nice at first, not to be thinking about you as much, despite being forced not to think about you… But it was also sad, and it hurt. Mostly because I knew I’d hurt you, but also because I felt like I’d lost you forever. When I got away from Kilgrave there wasn’t a moment I didn’t think about you, Trish. Before I came back, you were what kept me afloat. Sure, the mantras help, but in the end it’s always you. So, when I came back I was determined to tell you, one way or another, because you deserved to know. I wanted to make some grand gesture, try and win you over, you know? But Kilgrave came back and when I thought I’d lost you again I needed you to know right now. I would have told you, I just needed more time planning my course of action.”

A tear rolled down Trish’s cheek. How could she not have seen this? She knew Jessica was the one behind the sudden lack of violence from Dorothy’s side, she knew Jessica was the one who beat the shit out of all the wannabe’s who dated and tried to take advantage of her - she always knew. Trish had known for a long time how she felt about Jessica, but had been too scared of Dorothy to ever act on any of her urges and dreams. So that’s exactly what they remained: urges and dreams. “You did all of those things, Jess. You always protected me, you always took care of me... You’ve always been mine, and I’ve always been yours” Trish said before leaning in and giving Jessica a loving kiss.

Finally, Jessica met Trish’s eyes and she smiled again. Memories of the past left in the past, and with the warm feeling Trish gave her returning, she had the courage to ask the same.

“What about you, were you ever going to tell me?”

A little bit too quickly came Trish’s response, “oh God, no. Never.” She looked to Jessica who was only looking her, raising her eyebrows as if asking her to elaborate. “No, I was going to ignore everything inside of me that wanted you for however long it took to find someone who could never be even half as good as you and settle down, and just die knowing I never lost you. Because I’d rather have you in my life, even if just as a friend, than lose you over something stupid like a crush…”

Jessica raised her eyebrows then, “a crush?”

“Fine, maybe a little bit more than a crush, but I was still never going to tell you. I lost you once, Jess, after that I swore I would do everything I could not to lose you again. Even if that meant I could never be truly happy… The only thing that mattered to me – the only thing that will ever matter to me – is you. Seeing you happy is all I ever want.”

Jessica felt tears well up in her eyes, but was determined not to let her badass reputation deteriorate any more than it already had today. She didn’t know what to say, she had no idea how Trish felt, _all these years I’ve been so focused on not messing it up I completely missed it. I’m supposed to be the best PI there is, yet somehow I didn’t see it._ Not knowing what to say, she simply leaned back against the headboard, held her arms out, and beaconed Trish over. Trish crawled into Jessica’s embrace, taking a deep breath and fully relaxing. “I guess we’ve both been too busy avoiding all feelings we had to notice anything, huh? Although I wish I’d known. Way back when, I mean…”

Trish pulled her head back from where it had been resting on Jessica’s shoulder in order to see her face again. She smiled and kissed her cheek before laying her head back down and saying “No you don’t. You would’ve came up with some stupid excuse about how you couldn’t risk me, or how you didn’t deserve me… You’d tell me you were a bottomless pit of darkness who weren’t good for me because I deserved so much better. You’d say you were life threatening and I should steer clear of you.”

Jessica was quiet for a while, staring at nothing in particular thinking about what Trsh had just said. It was all completely true. Had Jessica known about Trish’s feelings all those years ago, she would have told her she couldn’t be with Trish because of all of those reasons and more. _Trish is still too good for me. Trish still deserves better, she deserves someone who won’t desperately, and suddenly, feel the need to run away. She deserves someone who won’t ever even so much as think about finding the nearest exit and run. She deserves someone who doesn’t have anger outbursts that by some miracle doesn’t turn her into the hulk. She deserves someone who isn’t me. God what am I doing? You can’t do this to her, she deserves-_

“Stop it. Jessica, look at me,” Trish sat back up, and Jessica, who looked like she’d seen a ghost so deep in convincing herself Trish was too good for her, turned to look at Trish. Trish grabbed her face, looked her in the eyes, and in a firm voice said “you are enough. You are good. You deserve the world, Jessica – and you deserve me.” Jessica was still looking terrified, so Trish continued “I need you to listen to me for a second, Jess. You are enough. You are good. You are mine and I am yours. You are everything I want; you are everything I need. You are good.” Trish could do this all day; whatever it took to show Jessica she was nothing but perfect in Trish’s eyes.

A couple repetitions later, Jessica seemed to re-enter the same world as Trish again. Trish, noticing this, repeated one last time everything she’d said to be sure Jessica heard it and understood her. Jessica’s heart nearly melted in her chest hearing Trish talk about her like that. She tried to smile, finally speaking up “I may be a bottomless pit filled with darkness, but you, Trish Walker, light that pit up so bright. So, so bright, Trish… You make me feel like the sun.”

Trish leaned in to give Jessica a quick kiss, before shrugging and crawling back into Jessica’s arms. “You’re a beautiful mess, Jess. _My_ beautiful mess,” she leaned in to whisper in Jessica’s ear, “and I love you.”

\----------------------------------------------

Trish had dragged Jessica out of bed to walk over to Trish’s place, and although when walking down the street she looked like she’d just been asked to kill a puppy, Jessica was happy as long she was by Trish’s side, holding her hand.

Trish was talking about some celebrity guest she was having on her show while Jessica was more concerned with how exactly she was going to ask Trish out on a date. She’d considered making some grand gesture doing it, but really, she wanted the date to be spectacular itself – everything else was just insignificant details to make it happen. Still, she wanted to make a good impression, she wanted to do this right. She wanted to give Trish exactly what she wanted, and Jessica had mentally been planning this date since she was 15 years old - she wanted it, no she needed it, to be perfect for the both of them.

They stopped outside Trish’s building, and Trish stepped in front of Jessica to fully face her “Jess, are you even listening anymore?”

Jessica was suddenly brought back to reality from where she was buried in date planning, “uhmm… No. I’m sorry, what were you saying?”

Trish laughed, “never mind what I was saying, penny for your thought?”

Jessica opened, but closed her mouth again before she could say anything. She just needed a second to say this right. “Trish,” she started, “are you- do you- I was just-” _breathe, you’re doing fine Jessica, it’s just Trish – you’re fine._ Jess held up one finger, telling Trish to give her a sec. She quickly turned her back to Trish, mouthing to no one in particular ‘what the fuck is happening’, before taking a deep breath and turning back around. Trish was looking at her with a smirk firmly placed on her face and raised eyebrows, finding this new nervous version of Jessica completely adorable. Jessica took one last deep breath, “Trish. Would you do me the honour of accompanying me to dinner tomorrow night?”

“Why, Jess, are you asking me out on a date?” Trish asked mockingly, only receiving a groan from Jessica, who was throwing her head back in frustration, as a response. She laughed and said “Sorry, I’m just messing with you.” She grabbed Jessica’s hands again and pulled her closer, “I would love to have dinner with you tomorrow night” before giving her a quick peck on the cheek.

Jessica couldn’t stop the huge grin that spread across her face, “really?” she asked excitedly.

“Yes, of course I’ll go out with you!”

“This is great!” Jessica exclaimed, lifting Trish to do a spin before kissing her soundly. Once they broke apart, Trish was a little more than flustered, and was left blinking for a moment to digest what just happened _. Definitely not what I expected,_ she thought. Jessica, on the other hand, was thrilled. She grabbed Trish’s hand and practically dragged her into the building and up to her apartment, too excited to care about the rest of the world. Trish could only shake her head at Jessica’s childlike excitement, while being willingly dragged after her.

\----------------------------------------------

Trish and Jessica didn’t mean to fall asleep, but they were sitting on the couch watching a movie, then Trish was lying on the couch with her head in Jessica’s lap watching a movie, then they were both laid on the couch, Jessica with her arms wrapped protectively around Trish. Feeling more than comfortable right there, not really caring much about the movie playing, Jessica of course fell asleep. Trish didn’t have the heart to wake her up, plus she was just as comfortable here as any other place. So, smile planted firmly on her face, she fell asleep too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Damn, three for three! Not gonna lie, I'm pretty impressed with myself for making that happen


	4. Rooftop wooing, stargazing and a not so badass Jessica

Trish woke up relatively early the next morning, as usual, but was way too comfortable to move. She turned around in Jessica’s arms so she could just look at her, _I haven’t seen her look this at ease in years, she deserves so much better than what life has given her. I’m going to give it to her._ The longer she looked at Jessica, the wider her smile got. _Jessica is taking me out today. I’m going out with Jessica today._ Trish had been dreaming about this for what felt like a lifetime, and she couldn’t be happier. _But what am I supposed to wear? It has to be absolutely perfect. What if I make a complete fool of myself? Does this date mean I should finally ask her what exactly we are? Or maybe that is a bad time to bring that up… Oh my God, what if I should bring it up but don’t? What if I wear the wrong clothes, what if I under dress or underestimate Jessica and make her feel shitty? She always looks beautiful, there’s no way I can match it, but I have to at least try, so I have to find the perfect outfit, or else I-_

“My eyes may be closed, but my body knows it’s before 9am, Trish.” Jessica broke Trish’s train of thought, which was a welcomed distraction at this point. She opened one eye to look at her, “were you trying to wake me up, or is there a reason you’re being so restless this morning?” Trish let out a nervous breath, and Jessica, noticing Trish’s nerves were all over the place, kissed the tip of Trish’s nose and smiled. “What’s going on up in there?” Jessica asked as she lazily lifted her arm and gently tapped Trish’s forehead.

“I’m sorry Jess, I guess I’m just a little bit nervous...”

Jessica looked at her with a funny expression on her face, _nervous? Why was she nervous? She had nothing to be nervous about today? She’s not going into the station, whatever interview she was talking about isn’t happening ‘til next week, the only thing that’s happening today is- Oh… Of course._ “Trish,” She said, letting out an airy laugh, “it’s okay. I’m a little nervous too.”

“Well it certainly doesn’t look like you’re nervous…” Trish said, more to herself than Jessica really. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do, or what I’m supposed to wear? I mean, where are you even taking me? I know nothing, what if I make a complete fool of myself? Am I supposed to talk about what we are, or am I supposed to ignore that completely, am I-“

“Trish,” Jessica broke in, her mind really only focusing on the one thing she was sure Trish hadn’t meant to let slip, _what we are…_ “Calm down, I can make all of those worries go away right now.”

Trish, even more nervous than before as she realised she’d just said all those things out loud, nodded for Jessica to continue, not daring to speak up too afraid her voice might break.

“Okay,” Jessica started, “I’m going to do the big one first. I love you, Trish, and I would love nothing more than to be your girlfriend. If you’ll have me, of course.”

Trish let a face splitting grin cover her features as she nodded erratically, _girlfriend._ She leaned in and gave Jessica the slowest most meaningful kiss she’d ever received. It wasn’t intense, or forceful, or particularly hot, but it was perfect. It was as if Trish was pouring all her love for Jessica into that kiss, and Jessica was in heaven. She pulled Trish closer, who within a second ended up straddling her as the kiss became more heated. Jessica slipped her tongue inside Trish’s mouth, and let a moan escape her lips at the taste of Trish. She took this moment to explore every inch of Trish’s mouth, and Trish was feeling as blissful as ever. They both put more force into the kiss as it became more passionate, and Jessica brought her hands under Trish’s shirt, feeling the warmth of her back.

After an intense make out-like-two-horny-teenagers session, it was Trish who broke the kiss when the need for air became too much. They were both breathing heavily, Trish laying her head down of Jessica’s chest and smiling at the sound of Jessica’s fast beating heart. Jessica was tracing patterns of nothing in particular on Trish’s back, both slightly overwhelmed by this incredible feeling of happiness they were experiencing. It was Trish who broke the silence, smiling and repeating to herself “girlfriend”.

Jessica smiled and dropped a kiss to the top of her head, “yup. You’re mine now.”

Trish turned her head up a little bit so she could place a kiss to Jessica’s jaw, “I’m yours.”

\----------------------------------------------

Jessica had eventually left Trish’s apartment, claiming she needed a few hours to prepare this date and make it perfect. Trish had insisted she didn’t care, that as long as Jessica was there it would be more than perfect. Jessica, of course, was having none of that. She had a plan, and you better believe she was going to make this right. First stop: her apartment.

\----------------------------------------------

Having spent nearly an hour rummaging through her apartment looking for everything she needed, she eventually gave up and realised _okay, so I have none of the stuff I need._ She ran off, stopping by store after store, picking up one thing here, another thing there, before lastly making her way into a flower shop.

She was greeted as she walked through the door, by a woman working there looking a little bit too happy. _Come on, lady, nobody is that happy of nature… Right?_ On second thought, maybe it was possible, Jessica was feeling better and brighter than she had in years because of Trish. Maybe this lady was going through the same and she was just feeling on top of the world?

After browsing for a few minutes, picking a flower here and a couple there, Jessica’s phone went off. She lifted it out of her pocket and smiled looking at the picture Trish had made her contact picture. She picked it up, “miss me already, huh?”

She heard Trish laugh on the other end, “whatever you say, Jess. You never told me anything else this morning, I still have no idea where I’m going, no idea what I’m supposed to wear…”

“How about clothes?” Jessica said as she picked up one last flower and walked over to the register.

“Well duh! But what?”

Jessica held the phone to her ear by her shoulder, digging for money in her pocket, while answering “Honestly, Trish, I don’t care. You always look beautiful, no matter what you wear. You could wear sweats for all I care! I’d still only see the most beautiful girl in front of me.”

Jessica heard only silence from the other end, and smiled knowing she’d made Trish speechless for a second. She gave the lady a couple of bucks, said thanks, and walked out of the shop. Only then did Trish speak up, “woah wait, were you just in a store?”

“Believe it or not, I actually was!”

“Well…? What store were you in, what were you getting?”

“I’m gonna hang up now, Trish…”

“No, wait! I still don’t know what to wear! Jessica, come on, I don’t want to look like an idiot…”

Jessica sighed, “Trish, seriously. Wear whatever you are comfortable in. As long as you are there, I won’t care what you wear. Okay?”

Finally giving up, Trish answered in a reluctant voice “fine, be that way. But if I end up looking stupid it’s going to be on you, Jess!”

Jessica just laughed and said “bye, Trish!” before hanging up. She headed back to her apartment to pick up everything she’d left there that she could organise on the spot, and to quickly change before it was time to go pick up Trish.

\----------------------------------------------

As Jessica got closer to Trish’s apartment, she walked around to the back and kicked off, landing on the roof of the building. Everything she’d spent all day running around organising was just as she left it, the weather was perfect and it was supposed to be a clear and beautiful night, the blankets she’d gotten were laid in a basket, and a couple were layered and put on the ground to make for a not as cold as usual seating area. She’d hung string lights over the area they would be sitting so they would have some source of light through the night. She’d picked up food from their favourite Chinese place on her way over that she placed in her basket with the extra blankets, and lastly she put down the flowers she’d gotten before taking a step back to look at her masterpiece. _This is going to be great,_ she thought, _I hope Trish likes it…_ And with that she picked up one of the flowers and walked inside to get Trish.

Trish was stood in front of the mirror in her bathroom looking over her outfit again, she was wearing a pair of jeans and a grey long sleeve – it was simple, but would be fitting for most occasions. While giving herself a mental pep talk, _you look fine, Jessica just wants you there, she doesn’t care. You’re not going to mess up. It’s going to be great,_ she heard Jessica knock on her door. She looked at her through the intercom for a second, _even in just a pair of jeans and that signature leather jacket of hers she looks as good as ever._ Once she opened the door she was met with the sight of a nervously smiling Jessica, holding out one single lavender rose. _Lavender? That’s new – beautiful, but new. It’s good._

Before Trish could ask about the rose, Jessica stepped up, kissed her cheek, handed Trish the rose while giving a half bow and in a terrible British accent saying “A lavender rose for m’lady.”

Trish’s face was taken over by a huge grin, and too taken aback to think of any witty remarks she took the rose before giving Jessica a sweet kiss. “Jess, this is so beautiful… Thank you.” _This is definitely not the time to discuss a rose, it’s time to see what Jessica has planned for tonight._

“You are always welcome, Trish. Now, are you ready for a night so full of romantic gestures it will make you sick?”

Trish chuckled at that, “sure thing, Jess. Take me away!”

Jessica found Trish’s hand and intertwined it with hers, leading the way to the elevator. _Damn I’ve ridden this thing so many times today it’s absolutely ridiculous…_ Once inside the elevator Trish was about to press the lobby button, but just in time, Jessica reached over and pressed the rooftop button.

Trish looked at her funnily, but Jess just kept smiling, staring ahead at the elevator doors. “Uhh, Jess? You know that’s the roof, right? Firstly, there’s nowhere out from there, the door is always locked. Secondly, that’s not how we get out of the building? I know you might be able to stick a landing from the top floor of pretty much any building, but I’d rather not take that chance…”

Jessica could only give Trish’s hand a gentle squeeze as the elevator came to a stop and she stepped out, dragging Trish out with her. She led the way to a short staircase that led to the door out to the roof, and although very doubtful, Trish trailed closely behind. Once Jessica reached the top step, she turned to Trish and quickly flashed her a smile before pushing open the door, letting Trish step out before her.

It was so much more than Trish had ever thought, the flowers, the blankets on the ground, the picnic basket with extra blankets, the string lights – everything was perfect. _She’s so perfect… She did all this for me?_ Trish felt tears welling up in her eyes, it was all just a little bit too much to take in and she found it hard to believe anyone, let alone Jessica, would make something so beautiful for her. Before she had the chance to say anything, Jessica stepped up behind her, wrapping her arms around Trish and laying her chin on her shoulder.

“You look very beautiful by the way,” Jessica said and planted a kiss to Trish’s neck.

“Me?” Trish said as she turned around in her arms, “This, Jessica, _this_ is gorgeous. You did all this? Is this why you left so early today? To do all of this?”

Jessica, smiling and looking prouder than ever before, nodded and said “I did. To be honest, even I’m a little bit surprised it turned out this well! I wanted to make it perfect. For you. I wanted to make it beautiful for you, because you deserve all of this and so much more, Trish.”

Trish was speechless. Jessica had done all of this for her, because she loved her, because she thought she deserved it. _This woman will be the death of me,_ she thought as she leaned in and firmly kissed Jessica. “This is great. _You’re_ great - you’re perfect.”

\----------------------------------------------

After having eaten Jessica had laid down, and Trish following quickly behind had grabbed a couple extra blankets that she’d wrapped around the two of them as she’d laid down next to Jessica. Jessica, however, was not completely on board with the tiny gap Trish had left between them, so of course she moved closer to Trish, throwing her arm around her so Trish could use her shoulder as a pillow. A comfortable silence fell over the two as they laid looking at the stars.

After a few minutes, Jessica spoke up. “You know, because light from distant stars and galaxies takes so long to reach us, we’re actually seeing them as they appeared in the past. Looking up towards the sky, we’re kind of looking into a form of time traveling… The sun takes 8.5 minutes to reach earth, so we’re seeing and experiencing it as it was 8.5 minutes ago. Kind of like how the star closest to earth is 4.2 light years away, so we’re seeing it as it was 4.2 years ago, meaning that same star can be dead by the time we see it. Or like how the nearest galaxy to us is 2.5 billion lightyears away, so it looks like it did when our Australopithecus hominid ancestors walked the planet…”

Trish could only look at Jessica then; she was not expecting that. Having said that, she wasn’t exactly surprised either, she knew Jessica loved space, the stars, the moon, and all things astrology. “The universe beyond earth, everything you’ve told me about it, like how shooting stars aren’t actually stars, or how 90% of human bodies are stardust… All those things you used to tell me every single night, those were the things that made me believe not everything in the world was bad. I used to look forward to it every day, you painting me this picture every night of a beautiful universe.”

“It used to comfort me… I mean it still does, but I don’t need it as much anymore. It used to make me feel safe, because I knew there was something much bigger than me out there, something much bigger than all of us – there was something beyond this dark place I was left in, something that could be anything I wanted and needed it to be. A place my family was still alive, a place you and I could be together, a place Dorothy didn’t exist. A place you and I could be truly happy. I don’t need to think that as much as I used to, because I’m happy now. Right here, with you.”

Trish thought about this for a moment before asking “hey, Jess?”

“Hmm?”

“What does a lavender rose mean?”

Jessica smiled remembering what her mother had told her about the different rose colors when she was a kid. She repeated what her mother used to tell her, “a lavender rose can signify enchantment… It can tell someone else that you are carried away by your romantic feelings for them. It can say wonder and impossibility. It’s such a wonderful rose, simply because it represents love at first sight – true love at first sight.”

Trish rolled over so she was practically laying on top of Jessica and kissed her, “You’re turning kinda mushy, Jess. Underneath that whole ‘I’m such a badass’ act you’ve got going, you’re really just a big softie.”

Jessica furrowed her eyebrows and firmly said “I’m still badass.”

Trish kissed her again then, and said “I don’t even care, Jess.”

Trish was just about to lean in once again, but Jessica put her hand over Trish’s mouth, _this discussion is not over, I am not ‘kinda mushy’._ “ Hey, no. You don’t get to do that! I am not mushy, I am still totally badass!” … “Right?” She added insecurely.

Trish rolled her eyes and said, “sure you are” in a muffled voice due to Jessica still covering her mouth.

“You don’t sound very convincing Trish, this is important! I need to know if I’m turning to mush, I can’t be going around trying to intimidate people if I’m mushy, you know?”

Trish sighed, removed Jessica’s hand and said “fine. You are not mushy at all, you are the badest badass of all the badasses in the world. Happy?”

Jessica smiled, satisfied for now, “Yes. So happy.”

Trish smirked, “good. Now will you shut up and let me kiss you senseless?”

Jessica could only smile wider than before, “yes, ma’am.”

Trish scrunched her face up them, “eww don’t call me ma’am, it makes me feel like I’m old.”

“Trish.” Jess said in a firm voice, before in a softer tone adding “just kiss me.”

Of course Trish couldn’t deny Jessica any of her wishes, especially not this one, so she leaned forward all at once, pouring her heart and soul into a kiss that created a moment of bliss for the both of them.


	5. Mutant butterflies, Ferris Bueller and going public

Jessica was having trouble sleeping. She’d returned to her own apartment a couple days later much to Trish’s dismay, but she had some cases she had to follow up. She had spent the night with Malcolm, who’d filled her in on what she’d missed, and then she’d gone out for a case for a couple of hours before returning home. She had been lying awake in bed for what felt like hours now, unable to fall asleep. She picked her phone up to look at the time, 2:34am, _Trish is definitely asleep by now…_ She decided it was useless trying to sleep when all she was doing was tossing and turning, feeling as restless as ever, so she turned on the light again. At first she wasn’t sure she was actually seeing it, but after a double take, sure enough, the ceiling was looking fixed up and like new again. She smiled to herself – _Trish._

She found her phone again, and despite it being the middle of the night, she decided to ignore whatever little bits of common sense she had and text Trish.

Jessica: Thanks for fixing my ceiling, I’ll try to leave the shoe throwing to a minimum for a while.

She was still smiling when she got out of bed and walked out to the living room to pick up one of her current cases, and she was surprised to find that Trish had already replied to her text message when she returned to her bed.

Trish: So you’re awake too, huh?

Jessica: Yeah, I was just going over this one case, I can’t really make any sense of it.

Of course Jessica wasn’t going to tell Trish she was the reason she couldn’t fall asleep. No, she was going to pretend it was anything but the fact that she needed Trish beside her to fall asleep anymore. Not a minute later, Jessica’s phone was ringing, and on the other end was none other than Trish. She picked up, but before she could make any comments it was Trish who was speaking.

“So you didn’t just realise I’d fixed your ceiling now because you were lying in bed unable to sleep and you happened to see it? No, you’re working on a case you can’t figure out, that right?”

Jessica knew she was busted. How come Trish knew her better than she knew herself some times? “Yeah, no I’m just working on this case and it just doesn’t make sense and it’s bothering me.”

Trish was smiling on the other end – she could always tell when Jessica was lying. “Jess.”

“Uh-huh?”

“I can’t sleep because you’re not here.”

Jessica breathed out a sigh of relief, “Oh thank God – its fucking impossible.”

Trish laughed then. She was already out of bed, putting on a jacket and a pair of shoes, before locking up the apartment and heading over to Jessica.

Jessica, with the same thought in mind, was also up and ready to go. “So,” she said, “this is going to be a problem…”

“It doesn’t have to be though,” Trish simply said.

Jessica was fully aware of this, and she was on her way to fix it. She never answered Trish again, but neither of them would hang up. Unknowingly walking towards one another, Jessica found it strange when up ahead she could have sworn someone who looked exactly like Trish was walking down the street. She squinted hard, trying to see who it was, trying to confirm it wasn’t Trish – it couldn’t be. _Could it?_ She picked up speed now, curios to see who it was, and that’s when she saw it. That red jacket and that walk. She’d seen that combination before. A smile spread across her face, and she finally answered Trish’s previous comment. “You’re right. And from now on, consider the problem solved.”

Trish thought this sounded weird, but it was Jessica she was talking to after all, so it wouldn’t exactly be a surprise if she was talking about something else entirely. Either way, she just had to ask, “what do you mean? What are you doing?”

Jessica walked directly towards Trish, and stopped dead in her tracks a few meters in front of her. Trish’s whole face lit up at the sight of Jessica and she all but threw herself into her arms. They were stood like that for a couple of minutes, in the middle of the street, Jessica holding onto Trish as if her life depended on it, and Trish doing exactly the same. “It’s only been a few hours since I last saw you, yet I feel like from then up until now I’ve been broken” Jessica said.

“I know exactly how you feel, Jess. I know exactly what you mean… It’s like I can’t function properly without you, even if just for a few hours.”

“Every time I as much as dare to think about you, the butterflies inside of me goes crazy. They’re not even butterflies anymore, they’re so big it’s a miracle they can even fit in there!”

Trish chuckled, “like mutant butterflies.”

“Yes!” Jessica exclaimed, “that is exactly what they are.”

“But hey, you said you’d solved our problem? Is this your solution? Walking over to my house in the middle of the night whenever you realise you can’t sleep without me? Because I gotta tell you, Jess, that doesn’t sound like a very good plan.”

Jessica smiled and kissed her before saying, “that would be kind of idiotic, wouldn’t it? No, I’m moving in.” And just like that, she took Trish’s hand in her own and started walking back to Trish’s place.

Trish was too stunned, and too happy, to speak at the moment, so she just linked her arm with Jessica’s and kept walking back to her apartment.

\----------------------------------------------

For once, Jessica was the first to wake up. She was laid looking at Trish for a moment, before gently running a hand through her hair. Trish shifted closer to Jessica, and buried her face in the crook of her neck, but didn’t open her eyes or talk. Jessica simply wound her arms around Trish and held her close to her for a moment. She eventually loosened her grip a little, as she shifted so she could see Trish’s face – _sound asleep._ Not wanting to wake Trish up, not being able to do so, she figured _what the hell, a little more sleep won’t kill me._ So she closed her eyes, slowly drifting off to sleep again.

\----------------------------------------------

The next time she woke up, Trish was no longer in her arms, or in the bed, or in the bedroom… Jessica opened her eyes and sat up quicker than she’d done in years, before quite loudly yelling “Trish?!” She heard a ‘yeah’ from somewhere in the kitchen and instantly relaxed again, falling back on the bed releasing a breath she didn’t know she was holding.

Trish was stood in the doorway a minute later with two cups of coffee, looking at Jessica laid on her back with an arm thrown over her eyes. “So,” she said as she moved further into the room, taking a seat on the bed again, “you’re moving in?”

Jessica could hear how Trish was speaking as if she was worried bringing it up would hurt her. She moved her arm, sat up, and grabbed Trish’s hand that was laid between them. “Well, I mean that’s what I want, but I don’t know what you want... If you don’t want that then that’s okay too.”

Trish brought their hands up to her mouth to give Jessica’s a kiss, “I think you should definitely move in.”

Jessica lifted her leg so she could sit up and straddle Trish before leaning in and kissing her with all her love. Trish slipped her tongue into Jessica’s mouth and they both sighed happily. Jessica had never been totally on board with French kissing, quite honestly she’d found it rather disgusting. That was, until she was kissing Trish. This was easily her favourite pastime activity.

Trish broke away from the kiss when she was finding it hard to breathe, but Jessica moved her kisses down her jawline and down her neck, making Trish wonder if this was actually making it any easier to breathe because _damn she’s good at that_. Trish guided Jessica back to her mouth and kissed her one last time before parting.

“Damn,” Trish said with a slight chuckle, “you’re kinda good at that.”

Jessica shrugged and kissed Trish’s cheek before grabbing her cup of coffee and taking her seat besides Trish again. She was sat looking down at the coffee mug, smiling, thinking about how lucky she is to get to wake up next to Trish every morning.

\----------------------------------------------

Jessica was sat on the couch with some case files later when Trish took a seat beside her and said “Hey, can we talk?”

 _Shit. Shit shit shit shit. She’s realised I’m shit, she doesn’t really want me to move in. Abort. Abort!_ “I think Ernest Hemingway is extremely overrated.” _Way to go, Jessica, just avoid talking about it, that’ll totally help._

“Uhm... What?”

“What? You wanted to talk, right?”

Trish looked at her like she was crazy for a second, “Well yes. But obviously, well I thought it was obvious anyway, not to discuss Ernest Hemingway. Probably never to discuss Ernest Hemingway actually…” _Phew, so she’s not changed her mind._ Trish let out a small laugh, “Weirdo.”

“Loser.”

“Moron.”

“Hobbit.”

“Dork.”

“Jeanie.”

Trish gasped then, bringing a hand to her chest, “how dare you, I am NOT Jeanie, _you_ are Jeanie.”

“What, no. I’m Ferris – obviously – you’re Jeanie.”

“Screw you, Jessica.”

“Meh, I’m good. Thanks though!” Jessica winked at Trish then.

Trish raised her hands in surrender, and started getting up from the couch again. “Oh my God, I just- no. I can’t. This is too much for me.”

Before Trish could go anywhere, Jessica pulled her down onto her lap and held her close to her, desperately pleading “no, I’m just messing with you Trish, please don’t leave me!”

Trish struggled for a moment trying to get out of Jessica’s grip, which of course was pretty much impossible. “Come on, Jess, this isn’t fair! You know I’ve got nothing on you!”

“Good, you’re stuck with me now.”

Trish gave up her struggling, figuring it was all for naught anyway. Jessica smiled triumphantly, that was until she was about to kiss Trish and was stopped effectively by Trish’s hand. “Oh no you don’t. These lips are off limits for you.”

Jessica’s jaw dropped in a dramatic sense, before she completely let go of Trish frantically apologising. “Trish I’m so sorry! I’m so, so, sorry, you have to forgive me. You’re not Jeanie, you’re totally Ferris, I didn’t mean anything I said, I take it back – I take it all back!”

Trish tapped her chin a couple time as is pretending to think about it for a second, “I don’t know, Jess… You said some pretty nasty things back there.”

“I know, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean any of it!”

Jessica was practically on her knees in front of Trish, begging for forgiveness, and seeing her like this was all Trish needed to end all of this. “Alright. I forgive you. All you have to do is come with me to this gala event thing some people from the station told some important people or whatever I’d be at. And I want you to go with me. As my date.”

Jessica, completely serious then, asked Trish “you want me to go to a gala thing…” Trish nodded, “with you?” Again, Trish nodded, “like a date?”

“Yes. I don’t really want to go to this thing, but because I have to, I want you to go with me… It’s in a couple of days, so you’d have a couple of days to prepare if you want, I just really want you to go to this with me. Don’t make me do this alone please?”

Jessica looked at her for a moment with furrowed brows, as if to make sure she was completely sure this is what she wanted. After a minute or so of searching Trish’s face for anything even remotely close to being doubt, but coming up empty, she gave her answer. “Okay.”

Trish raised her eyebrows in surprise, “okay?”

Jessica gave a firm nod and repeated, “okay. Let’s go to this gala, let’s turn some heads, receive some comments, be the main point of interest in every conversation for a couple hours – let’s go kick some ass!”

Trish laughed and pecked Jessica’s lips. And just like that, even though technically Jessica just lost, she couldn’t help but feel as if she’d won the prize of a lifetime.

\----------------------------------------------

It was Friday night, the night of Trish’s gala event thingy, and Jessica was kind of freaking out. She was pacing the bathroom floor, mentally psyching herself out. _I can’t do this, I’m gonna mess up and make Trish look bad, and she’ll hate me forever and I can’t do it. My clothes are awful, I look like shit compared to Trish, I’m only going to drag her down._

Trish knocked on the door, “Jess? Open the door for me, please?”

Reluctantly, Jessica opened the door and tried to give Trish a smile, but it came off as more of a nervous, very forced, smile. Trish cupped her face, and she sighed, “I don’t know if I can do this, Trish…”

Trish kissed her firmly and said “I know you can do this.”

Jessica laughed then, “Trish, look at me… I’m going to make you look horrible. I don’t fit in with those people, I don’t want to ruin this for you. All those people look up to you, what if I do something stupid?”

“Okay first of all, you look perfect. I don’t care that you don’t fit in with them, you fit in with me.” Trish took Jessica’s hand then, “see?” she said as she lifted their hands, “a perfect fit.”

“But what if I make other people think less of you? I don’t want to mess anything up for you, or do something stupid so you’ll hate me…”

“Hey. Fuck everyone. I only care about you, I only love _you_.” Jessica finally smiled a little bit, “there it is! That gorgeous smile. Show me again, please?”

Jessica laughed and rolled her eyes before exaggerating a grin for Trish to see, who only kissed her again and said “absolutely perfect” before dragging her out of the apartment and leaving for the gala.

\----------------------------------------------

Once they arrived Trish was immediately met with reporters and photographers, and while Jessica was looking for the nearest place to hide, Trish put on her best public smile and answered all their questions with patience before going inside.

Once inside, they were met with even more people greeting Trish, saying how lovely it is to see her again, Jessica, once again, looking for somewhere to hide. They would occasionally ask her questions too, mostly courtesy ones like ‘how are you?’ and ‘oh, you’re the girl Dorothy took in when your family died, right? How lovely to see you here!’ Despite the anger growing inside of her, she was here for Trish. Nothing was going to ruin anything for her, so Jessica smiled politely and nodded at all the comments directed at her.

There came a moment where nobody was desperate to talk to Trish, so she turned and whispered in Jessica’s ear, “thank you for coming with me, I know this sucks, you’re great.”

Jessica smiled and whispered in return, “why are all of these people such assholes?”

Trish snorted, “you know, most of the people in this room think _you_ are kind of an ass?”

“Well yes, but I’m not trying to hide it. I mean look at me, I wore old jeans and a casual sweater to a fucking gala.”

Trish laughed again, and kissed her cheek. “You look beautiful. I love you, Jess.”

“Does that mean we can leave now?”

Trish sighed, “sadly, not yet…”

  ----------------------------------------------

A couple hours later, Jessica was looking as miserable as ever, Trish was feeling tired, and they both wanted to go home, but this one lady would just not leave them alone. She was so surprised Trish showed up with Jessica, she’d heard so much about her, but as Jessica had never actually been to any of these things so she was surprised when after all this time she finally was. This lady was going on and on about how great it was that Trish brought a friend instead of a date, apparently ‘too many people go to these things with pretty boys just to look good, I’m so glad to see you’re not one of those, Trish Walker. It really sets a good example for the rest of us.’ Jessica was growing increasingly frustrated, and Trish could only imagine how hard it was for Jessica not to say anything because she was having some serious trouble herself keeping her anger at bay. _I mean who does this woman think she is? The queen of everything? Jesus…_ And that’s when it happened. She said the one thing Trish couldn’t let go, because it was the one thing Jessica had been worried about.

“I think it’s good you’re here with Trish, Jessica. Such an example of what a great friend is. Granted, you could have at least made an effort to dress, and avoid making Trish here look like… Well, look like less than. Still, you have such a lovely friendship between the two of you even I’m growing a little jealous talking to you.”

Jessica knew exactly what was going on inside Trish’s head, so she turned to face her and said “it’s okay Trish, don’t mind her – fuck everyone, remember?” Trish was stood staring right at the woman, completely ignoring Jessica, with anger flaring up inside her. Jessica tried again, cupping her face and forcing Trish to look at her “Hey. Look at me, okay? Just look at me.” Not caring the woman was still stood looking at the two of them, she added “fuck that crazy lady, just focus on me.”

Doing as she was told, she focused on Jessica, her anger growing smaller by the minute until eventually she could think clearly again. Once this happened, she did what she’d wanted to do all night and she firmly kissed Jessica – not caring if everyone in the room stared at the two of them for a minute. _They’ll get over it._

When they parted, Jessica was stood frozen in her tracks, _the hell just happened?_ While Trish turned back to the woman, “listen lady, I love this woman. If you want to talk shit that’s absolutely fine by me, but do it behind our backs like a normal person.” She then grabbed Jessica’s hand and walked away from the woman and into the bathroom.

“Trish I am so sorry, I should’ve never been here, this is all my fault…”

Jessica was rambling the second the door behind them closed, but Trish was having none of it, so before she could say anything else she gave her a fierce kiss and said “I love you.”

Just like before, Jessica grinned and hopefully asked “so… We can leave now, right?”

Trish laughed and nodded, “yes, Jess. Let’s go home.”

Jessica smiled and kissed her one last time before they left, “I love you too, Trish.”


	6. An adventure, douchebags and a trip to the ER

Jessica had officially moved in about a week later, leaving her previous apartment to be a permanent office, an office both she and Malcolm would have access to anytime they like.  Every day she could have sworn she’d died and gone to heaven, for the first time in a long time she felt completely and truly happy. Falling asleep with Trish in her arms, waking up next to her, holding her hand, kissing her… Come to think of it, Trish was almost positively the sole reason Jessica was feeling as if she was on cloud nine.

  ----------------------------------------------

Trish woke up feeling as rested as ever, these last few days she’d slept better than she had in years, all thanks to one particular raven haired beauty. She turned to face Jessica to find her already awake, a small smile playing on her lips.

“Jesus, Jessica, stare much?”

Jessica smiled, “I was going to go out and get us breakfast and wake you up with breakfast in bed, but then I looked at you. It’s not my fault, you’re the one who looks like you do, so don’t even try to blame me for the fact that neither of us eating right now.”

Trish pecked her lips and snuggled in to Jessica’s side, laying her head over Jessica’s heart. “I know there was a compliment in there somewhere, so thank you.”

Jessica didn’t answer then, but Trish knew Jessica’s smile was just as wide – if not wider – than her own at that moment. Which is why she thought now was the perfect time to announce her plans for the day, as Jessica couldn’t possibly say no if she was too happy to actually pay attention right now. Taking a chance, Trish turned her head up so she could look at Jessica, while in a hopeful voice asking, “I want to go on an adventure today. With you. Come with me?”

Jessica laughed and kissed Trish’s forehead, “I’d follow you anywhere, Trish.”

“So that’s a yes…?”

“Yes,” Jessica confirmed before suddenly jumping out of bed with Trish still in her arms, carrying her bridal style. Trish squealed and laughed, making Jessica smile like a lovesick idiot, _god I love that sound._ Jessica spun around and planted a firm kiss to Trish’s lips, “let’s go on an adventure!”

Seeing the biggest smile on Trish’s face right then was reason enough for Jessica to forget she’d just agree to go on some mystery adventure with Trish – the times Trish seemed as genuinely happy as she did right that moment was enough to make Jessica realise she didn’t even care where they were going. She really had meant what she’d said, she was more than happy to follow Trish anywhere.

  ----------------------------------------------

They’d been driving for almost two hours now, and Trish still had not told Jessica where she was taking her or what they were doing. Trish was really enjoying seeing Jessica frustrated, because usually it was Trish being frustrated with Jessica and not the other way around – it was a welcomed change.

“Come on, Trish, I don’t understand why you won’t just tell me where we’re going! It’s not like I’m going to just run off or something…” Jessica was pleading, hoping, begging for answers. When Trish just kept her eyes on the road with a smirk on her face Jessica groaned. _Fine. If she won’t tell me she won’t tell me, not much I can do about that. Man, that girl is a stubborn one..._ Once accepting defeat, Jessica reached over the mid console and grabbed Trish’s free hand.

Trish smiled at the gesture, and when Jessica started doing what she always did when she was holding Trish’s hand – tracing letters and creating words in her palm – before she could stop herself, she glanced to her side. The sight of Jessica’s concentrated face as she traced whatever letters she were making at the moment only made Trish’s smile grow. Jessica noticed this and leaned over and kissed her cheek.

  ----------------------------------------------

Around half an hour later, Trish pulled in to the only empty space she could find in the close to full parking lot, and Jessica finally looked up.

“A fair?!” Jessica’s grin was so big Trish was starting to worry her face might actually split if she kept it up.

“Yup, a fair,” Trish said as she placed a kiss to Jessica’s cheek before getting out of the car. “When we were younger you said you’d never been to one, you’d never even ridden a rollercoaster. I wanted to take you then, but every time I found one not too far away, Dorothy stopped me and all hell broke loose… But hey, better late than never, huh?” She gently nudged Jessica’s shoulder as they walked towards the entrance.

Jessica stopped in front of Trish for a moment and cupped her face, “this is perfect, Trish.” She grabbed Trish’s hand again and all but dragged her to the entrance where they got their tickets and entered the fair. Once inside, Jessica’s whole face lit up with excitement, _she looks like a little kid,_ Trish thought. “Trish,” Jessica stopped again, a completely serious look on her face, “I am going to win you whatever you want, you are seriously the best.” She kissed Trish then, “and I love you. Like a lot.”

Trish laughed and intertwined their hands before walking on, “come on, kiddo, let’s get you full of cotton candy put you on a rollercoaster.”

Jessica scrunched her face up then, “isn’t that what you’re _not_ supposed to do?” Trish just shrugged her shoulders and kept walking, _this might be even more fun than I imagined,_ she thought.

  ----------------------------------------------

After eating herself sick, Jessica had gone on several rides – more like all the rides - insisting she was fine. The sugar had finally gotten the best of her, and she was now stood with her head in a trashcan, puking her guts out, with Trish rubbing her back continuously apologising for not warning Jessica and instead just letting this happen.

Once Jessica’s head was out of the trash and she didn’t feel the need to throw up any more, she turned to Trish and said “Trish, it’s okay, calm down, I’m fine.”

Trish sighed, “I know, I know… I just don’t like it when you’re sick, especially not when it’s my fault! God, I’m so sorry, Jess, I’m so stupid.”

Jessica grabbed Trish’s flailing hands then, “hey. No, Trish. You are not stupid. I’m completely okay. It happens, you know? It’s the fair, it’s supposed to happen!” Leaning her head down to catch Trish’s eyes, she smirked before kissing her cheek.

“Eww, Jessica! That’s disgusting, you just threw up for ten minutes!” Trish was slightly disgusted by the fact that Jessica had just done that to her, but at the same time she really appreciated Jessica cheering her up in less than a second. Jessica was in the middle of a fit of laugher, and Trish just couldn’t get mad at her. She hit Jessica’s arm before saying “you are such an asshole,” and handing her a breath mint.

“Yeah, but you love me,” was all Jessica said before pointing to a booth, grinning, and all but running towards it. Trish just shook her head to herself, _that girl will definitely be the death of me._

By the time Trish caught up with Jessica, she’d already had two goes at throwing darts and popping balloons. Trish came up laughing, knowing Jessica was about to yell at everything and everyone unless she managed to pop one of those freaking balloons, _these games are always rigged, I swear to god,_ Jessica thought to herself and she failed to pop enough balloons to win what she wanted for a third time. Trish walked up behind her just as she was about to throw the first dart of her fourth try, wrapping her arms around her waist and placing her chin of Jessica’s shoulder. Jessica sighed, feeling whatever frustration she was battling with earlier just leave her body all at once. She took a deep breath, and threw one dart after another, hitting a balloon every single time.

She threw her hands up in the air yelling “VICTORY!” to no one in particular.

Trish couldn’t find it in her to be embarrassed about what was going on, _screw it,_ she thought as she threw her hands up and joined Jessica, cheering loudly and smiling like crazy because of some silly game.

Once calmed down, Jessica let Trish pick her prize – a gigantic koala, because why not – before dragging Trish onwards to the next game.

  ----------------------------------------------

They’d been at the fair for hours, laughing and smiling more than either of them had done in years, when Trish finally found it. The high striker. She’d only looked at Jessica and grinned from ear to ear, silently pleading. Jessica had looked at her funnily for a moment before realising exactly where Trish was looking, and immediately protesting.

“No. No way, Trish, that’s not happening. Plus it wouldn’t really be fair, would it?”

Trish was dragging on Jessica’s arm, trying to move her, unsuccessfully might I add, towards the high striker. “Jess, come on, let’s do it! I’ll do it, and you’ll do it, it’ll be fun! You used to love doing this, making bets with people and then pissing them off and taking all their money. Please? For old time’s sake?”

 _Oh God, not the puppy dog face. Lord have mercy…_ Jessica sighed and let her head fall, once again accepting defeat and letting herself be dragged along by Trish.

Although initially not totally on board with the idea of unfairly beating this game, now that she was stood by it, on the receiving end for once of a lot of glares and laughs from the people surrounding them, she realised this might be fun. _For old time’s sake, right?_

Trish was up first, and like always, she hit hard, but not quite hard enough. She laughed it off, shrugging her shoulders as if saying ‘oh well’, before switching places with Jessica. Despite her superhuman strength, Jessica definitely didn’t look like she could pull something like this off. People were talking about her, laughing at her, as she was just stood with the hammer in her hands, winking at Trish before putting most of her strength into a swing.

The machine was dinging like crazy, and both she and Trish was laughing by the time anyone realised what had just happened. They were, however, stopped mid-laugh by a guy walking out of the ring of people surrounding them.

“That’s cheating!” he claimed.

Jessica raised her eyebrows and responded, “I didn’t cheat any more than you would have, or anyone else here.”

The man huffed, and walked so he was standing only inches away from Jessica. “You’re that girl. Jones or whatever. You’re one of those people, those people with supernatural abilities – she’s got supernatural abilities!” he suddenly yelled out. “Cheater,” he added, still not backing away.

Trish was about to walk up to them, but Jessica stopped her, not wanting Trish to get mixed into any of this. “What is up with you, what have I done to you?”

The man let out a laugh then, “of course you don’t remember me, why would you? I’m the guy you threw through your own window.”

 _Of course. Of course it had to be him, of course he’s here today._ Jessica was starting to feel increasingly annoyed, _who was this guy? Who gave him the right to mess up my lovely day?_ She laughed and said “oh yeah! I remember you, your wife cheated on you, right? How’d all that work out for you?”

“You bitch!” he exclaimed, _oh he is definitely pissed right now, this is great._

Before Jessica had the time to react, her nose was sitting crooked on her face, bleeding profusely, the man walking off to God knows where and Trish running up to her. “Ouch! What the fuck?” was all Jessica could manage to say before Trish was at her side all frantic like.

“Holy shit, Jess, are you okay? Take your hand away and let me see. Jesus what was his deal?” Jessica just shook her head, refusing to let Trish check out her injury. “Jessica, please…”

Still refusing to let Trish look at the damage, she managed to say “he hired me a while back, his wife cheated on him, he blamed me, I threw him through a window.”

“Jesus Christ, Jess…” Trish now put her hand over Jessica’s, trying to pry it away from her nose.

“Trish, stop. I’m fine, let’s just go.”

“You’re not fine, I could practically hear the crack! That’s not fine, Jessica.” Trish was getting frustrated, but she was definitely not going to back down now. Jessica could protest all she wanted, but one way or another, Trish was going to look at that nose and take her to see a doctor if she had to. _She may be strong, but she’s not unbreakable._

“Nothing’s cracked, I’m sure it’s fine. It doesn’t even hurt that much!” Trish just raised an eyebrow then, unexpectedly pushing Jessica’s hand harder against her nose, resulting in a hiss from Jessica, “Trish! What the hell?”

Trish shrugged, “you said it didn’t hurt.”

“For fucks sake…”

Trish took a deep breath before sternly saying, “Jessica Campbell Jones, you listen to me right now. Show me that nose of yours, or so help me God, I will make you sleep on the couch.”

Jessica raised her eyebrows in surprise, _honestly did not think Trish had it in her… And there is no way in hell I am sleeping on the couch._ Reluctantly, Jessica rolled her eyes removed her hand from her nose that was now more or less sideways. Trish gasped before gently touching it, only to have Jessica flinch and turn hear head away from Trsh’s hand. “Jesus, Trish, don’t touch it.”

Smiling sheepishly Trish apologised and retracted her hand, “you need to get that set, Jess. By someone who actually knows what they’re doing for a change, because I am not doing it again.”

Jessica actually laughed then, and started walking with Trish towards the car, “I was 17, Trish, I didn’t know any better! I didn’t think it would be a big deal if you set it, I wasn’t exactly prepared for it to start bleeding again once you did, I didn’t mean to freak you out. But hey! Now we know what happens, so it’s not a problem, right?” Jessica asked, hoping to avoid the hospital.

“I’m not doing it again.”

“But I love you!”

Trish stopped and turned to face Jessica, “listen to me. I am not setting it. A doctor is going to set it. Get with the program, please.”

Jessica could only sigh and they continued walking towards the car, already feeling quite anxious about the idea of going to a hospital.

  ----------------------------------------------

They’d been sitting in the car outside of the hospital in silence for almost ten minutes before Trish spoke up as she reached for Jessica’s hand. “Hey…”

Jessica looked over at her and gave a half smile, “hey.”

“Look, I know you don’t like this, but I’m right here. I will be right beside you every second we’re in there, okay? We’re doing this together. Nothing bad is going to happen, we’ll get your nose back in an upright position, and then we’ll leave. We’ll go home and we can order pizza and watch terrible movies or do whatever else you want to do.”

“Yeah…” Jessica sighed.

Trish felt her heart clench. Jessica had been thrown across rooms, she’d thrown other people across rooms, she’d been hit by a car and walked away with nothing but a simple ‘ouch’, and this. This petty little building was the one thing that could make her nervous and afraid. Trish opened her door, stepped out and walked around to Jessica’s side, opening her door as well. Crouching, she looked at Jessica and saw the fear in her eyes. Knowing she had to be the strong one right now, she grabbed Jessica’s hand again, “I’m ready when you are.”

  ----------------------------------------------

 _It’s too white. It’s too empty. There are too many people. Too many people staring, it smells too sterile in here. The guy said he would be back in a sec, but it’s been 15 minutes. Oh no, something’s wrong. Why won’t he come back?!_ Jessica was freaking out as she was sitting next to Trish on the examination table, who had one arm around Jessica’s waist and the other holding one of her hands, waiting for the doctor to return and set her nose back. She was sure she was squeezing Trish’s hand way too hard, but she needed to know Trish was there, and she wasn’t leaving. She knew she was probably hurting Trish’s hand, but Trish wasn’t saying anything, in return she simply had the same strong grip on Jessica’s hand, letting her know it was okay.

“Okay, Miss Jones, we’re all ready to get that nose fixed.” The doctor said as he walked back into the room, putting a pair of blue gloves on. _They chose that color because it’s supposed to be comforting, calming, clean. It’s freaking blue is what it is – too much is what it is,_ Jessica thought and she was moving dangerously close to a complete breakdown right then and there. “So have you done this before?” he asked.

Trish, noting how Jessica was more or less frozen in place, decided to answer for her. “Actually, when we were younger, this exact thing happened. Except back then, I was the one who set it because this one refused to come here.” She rubbed Jessica’s back with her free hand, whispering in her ear, “it’s okay, Jess, I’ve got you. It’ll be over before it’s even started. Are you ready?”

Jessica gave a small nod, and Trish let the doctor know he could do his thing. Counting down from 3, before Jessica knew it, with a sharp pull, a twisting motion, and a horrible cracking sound, her nose was looking good as new. Finally, for the first time since they’d entered the hospital, Jessica spoke up. “Son of a bitch!”

Trish laughed and kissed her cheek, “all done.”

The doctor handed Jessica some tissues she could hold to her nose to stop the bleeding, before exiting the room, allowing the two to leave the hospital whenever they felt ready. Jessica all but ran out of there and back to the car, _okay. It’s over. Back in the car, the car is safe. It’s over._ By the time Trish was in the car, Jessica’s breath was shallow and silent tears were running down her cheeks.

Trish reached a hand out to wipe away a fallen tear, “I am so incredibly proud of you, Jess. You’re my hero, you know that?”

Jessica closed her eyes tightly for a few minutes, repeating the street names over and over, trying to calm down, with Trish patiently waiting for her to come back. After a few minutes, Jessica opened her eyes again and looked at Trish with puffy red eyes, not able to find the words she was looking for. Trish accepted this and drove the two of them home, holding Jessica’s hand the entire time – just like the promised.

  ----------------------------------------------

The moment they walked through the door, Jessica’s jacket, hoodie and boots were laid on the floor, creating a path to the couch where she’d flopped down on her side, facing the back of the couch rather than out towards the room like normal.

Trish picked up the jacket the hoodie and the boots before making her way over to Jessica. She sat down on the edge of the couch, about to reach out to Jessica who then suddenly shifted and repositioned the two of them. Trish was now sitting properly on the couch, Jessica still lying on her side, only she’d placed her head in Trish’s lap, and she was holding on so tightly. It was as if she was afraid if she didn’t hold on tight enough, Trish would disappear into thin air.

Jessica laid like this for a while, face pressed into Trish’s stomach, clinging to her as if her life depended on it, with Trish running her hand through Jessica’s hair. Trish, comfortable with the silence, was a little bit startled when Jessica mumbled something into her stomach.

Trish furrowed her eyebrows, she had no idea what Jessica had just tried to tell her. She looked down before asking, “sorry?”

Jessica moved her head a little bit, allowing for the smallest space to come between them so her words could be understood. “I’m sorry Trish. I’m sorry about all of this. About the broken nose, the crying, your hand…” Trish was about to protest, but Jessica was quicker, “Don’t. I know I hurt you back there. I’m just sorry.”

Trish didn’t know what to say, so she decided against speaking for once and simply sat in silence, holding Jessica for however long she needed it.

A few minutes later, Jessica spoke up again, sounding as lost as ever, “I’m still not the hero you wanted me to be…”

Trish let a small smile grace her lips then, and as she continued stroking Jessica’s hair she carefully leaned down to whisper in her ear, “you are exactly the hero I wanted you to be.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long to get this up - I blame the Norwegian Constitution Day (AKA May 17th).


	7. There's No Air in Space

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... It's been two weeks. I am so sorry! Better late than never though?

Jessica had eventually fallen asleep, exhausted from the previous events, and Trish didn’t have the heart to wake her when she realised how late it was and how tired she herself actually was. Which is why, when Jessica woke up, she’d furrowed her brows and simply carried Trish to their bed thinking she couldn’t possibly be comfortable sleeping in a sitting position with Jessica’s head in her lap.

As Jessica climbed into bed herself, before she went back to sleep, she kissed Trish’s temple and said, “I love you, Trish Walker.”

Trish had half woken up as she had been carried to bed, but she was too tired and asleep to react to anything that was happening. That was, until Jessica kissed her and said she loved her. Trish turned over then, and snuggled closer to Jessica, laying her head on Jessica’s chest and draping her arm around her waist, as a response to the comment. Jessica had just smiled and fallen asleep within minutes.

  ----------------------------------------------

The next time Jessica woke up the sun was shining through the window, and she couldn’t help but groan and at the brightness. She looked down to see Trish still sleeping soundly. Smiling, she decided to get up and make some breakfast, after all it was the least she could do to make up for everything that had happened the night before. _God, I was a mess… And Trish stayed, she didn’t leave. I completely broke down, but she didn’t leave._

After having managed to detangle herself from Trish – without waking her in the process might I add – Jessica walked into the bathroom, and before she could remember or simply look in the mirror, she splashed some water in her face only to feel a jolt of pain run through her. “Son of a bitch,” she muttered under her breath, _I completely forgot about that, Jesus Christ…_ She finally looked in the mirror, only to have her eyes widen at the sight of her now bright purple nose. She proceeded to touch it only to hiss in pain.

“Yeah, you probably shouldn’t touch that, you know?”

Jessica’s hand shot up to cover her nose as she turned to face a smug looking Trish standing in the doorway, “Jesus, Trish!” Even though she tried to hide her surprise, Jessica’s voice sure knew how to give her away.

Trish walked over to Jessica and put her hand over Jessica’s, in a failed attempt at moving it. She raised an eyebrow then, “I thought we talked about this, Jessica…”

Sighing, Jessica removed her hand and stared at the ground in front of her. _No matter what Trish says, don’t look up._

“Jess…”

Jessica couldn’t help but lift her head then to meet Trish’s eyes. _Damn it, Jones, what did I just tell you?_ Trish cupped Jessica’s face and slowly leaned forward, before pressing the gentlest, softest, kiss to the tip of Jessica’s nose. Jessica had closed her eyes, fearing the worst, and opened one eye to see Trish stood smiling. She opened the other than and let out a shaky breath, “that was not as bad as I thought it would be.”

“Well I would hope not, but I mean if you don’t want me to kiss you anymore that’s fine by me! Gives me a whole lot of free time I just recently lost, so whatev-“

Jessica had rolled her eyes halfway through the response before quickly pulling Trish towards her by the waist and shutting her up by kissing her. Trish sighed and responded with what was apparently a bit too much force, because Jessica had quickly pulled away and Trish could see she was tightly closing her eyes, willing the pain and tears away. So she stepped up to Jessica and hugged her instead, “I’m sorry I hurt you…”.

Jessica pulled back then and looked at her like she was crazy, “What? Trish, I kissed you. You know that, right? It’s just this stupid nose… I thought I was supposed to heal faster than normal people? Whatever happened to that?”

“Faster? Yes. Within 24 hours? Probably no, not even you. Sorry Jess…”

“Not your fault, Trish.” Trish just shrugged and pulled Jessica back into the hug, “oh and I’m sorry I’m gonna be looking like a clown for a while, I know they freak you out.”

Letting out a laugh, Trish simply said, “You are not a clown. You simply have a clown nose at the moment… But even if you were, I’d still love you. Not even a clown could take you away from me.”

Jessica smiled, and held Trish tighter. After a couple minutes of silence, however, Trish spoke up again. “And you know, it’s totally fine to be scared of clowns, Jess. It’s common sense.”

  ----------------------------------------------

A couple of days later, Jessica walked in to their apartment only to find Trish standing in their bedroom, staring at the wall behind their bed. She sneaked up behind her and as she wound her arms around Trish, she could feel her relaxing into her hold.

“I could have been anyone, Trish, what if I came in her to kill you and you just relaxed into my hold like that? That’s like telling the killer ‘just go ahead, I’m ready!’”

Trish laughed and turned around in Jessica’s arms, she wound her arms around Jessica’s neck and pecked her lips. “I would know you anywhere, Jess,” as Jessica raised an eyebrow, Trish spoke up again, “seriously. Anywhere.”

Jessica rolled her eyes then, “whatever you say, princess…” Trish stuck her tongue out, and Jessica leaned in to give her a soft kiss. “So! Why exactly is this wall of interest to you right now, Trish?”

Trish turned back towards the wall, and while cocking her head to the side and squinting, she said “because I want to do something with it, duh. I need your input though, before I go ahead and deface our bedroom wall I mean…”

When Trish didn’t continue, Jessica spoke up, “so…? You want to do what exactly, with the wall?”

“I want to paint it.”

Jessica had to keep herself from snorting, and while turning Trish in her arms to face her, she said “Trish. If you want to paint the wall, I’m sure we can make it happen, I’m sure whatever you have in mind will make it look great.”

Trish smiled, “well… I don’t want to just paint the wall. I mean I do, but I had an idea – a fun idea – how do you feel about paint balloon dart?”

Trish was grinning from ear to ear, and Jessica couldn’t help but smile back just as wide. _God, this girl will be the death of me. How can anyone say no to that face?_ “How do I feel about paint balloon dart? I feel pretty confident I will kick your ass in paint balloon dart, that’s how I feel about it.”

“Oh wipe that smirk off your face, Jones, you are going down! I am going to kick your ass. And I’m going to make this wall look awesome in the process, it’s the classic killing two birds with one stone and all that!”

Jessica snorted and shook her head while walking away, “whatever you say, Trish!”

  ----------------------------------------------

“So,” Trish said, “we’ve done the white priming of the way, we’ve hung the balloons, covered the floor, gotten darts… Are we missing something? I feel like we’re missing something.”

Trish had spent the entire previous day painting the wall white so that it would be a nice solid color for the balloons, before she’d forced Jessica to join her in filling up the balloons with paint. The wall was now full of balloons moving as a gradient with purple, blue, green, yellow, orange and red, the entire floor was covered in plastic, the bed had been moved out of the way, and the walls next to it had been covered up.

“Nah, I don’t see what we could possibly be missing,” Jessica chimed in. “We’ve covered everything, isn’t that the most important part?”

With a satisfied smirk, Trish picked up a couple darts and got ready, “alright, let’s do this then!”

  ----------------------------------------------

A wall full of paint and a sulking Jessica later, the two were now sat on the floor of their bedroom eating Chinese. Trish had, of course, beaten Jessica in their game, resulting in Jessica pouting non-stop for almost an hour until Trish had eventually managed to make it go away with kisses, food and promises of ice cream. “I gotta hand it to you, Trish, this wall looks pretty damn good.”

“I know, right?” Trish smiled victoriously before leaning in a pecking Jessica’s lips, “thanks for helping me though, Jess.”

Jessica grinned shamelessly and gave a nod.

They sat in a comfortable silence while they ate for a good while, until Trish spoke up, “hey, Jess?”

Jessica looked up while slurping up the noodles she currently had hanging from her mouth, “hmm?”

“Have dinner with me tomorrow night?”

Raising an eyebrow at that, Jessica said “Trish, we have dinner together every night…”

“Come on, Jess, you know what I mean!”

“Actually, Trish, I don’t think that I do.”

Trish knew by now that Jessica was having fun with her, but decided to go with Jessica’s own line, and asked “Jessica. Would you do me the honour of accompanying me to dinner tomorrow night?”

Jessica laughed and leaned in to give Trish a quick peck, “of course I will.”

“Great! It’s a date.”

  ----------------------------------------------

Trish had spent most of the day asking herself why exactly she’d asked Jessica out with only one day to come up with something great. She did realise making this dinner as good as Jessica’s wasn’t even close to happening, so after hours of deliberation, she’d decided to book a table at a not too flashy – but not too shabby – place.

Jessica had been worrying all day that she was going to make Trish look bad wherever they ended up going. She thought Trish was used to something a bit more fancy compared to Jessica herself, and she really didn’t own anything that wouldn’t make her look like she didn’t care. It’s not like it really mattered what she wore, Jessica knew that, but she still wanted to try to match Trish. _There’s got to be something in here that’s not completely horrible…_

After rummaging through her closet for a good hour or two trying to put together something useful, Jessica had found her least worn jeans and a simple grey sweater, _it’s not much, but it will have to do._ As she self-consciously walked into the living room where Trish was sat waiting patiently, she didn’t really know what to do with her hands, so she crossed them over her chest while taking a seat next to Trish, not daring to look at her afraid Trish will be disappointed in her.

“Jess, you look really good.” Trish said as she kissed her cheek and stood up, not missing the small smile appearing on Jessica’s face, “are you ready? I got us a table for 7, so if you are we should probably get going.”

Standing up herself, Jessica quickly swung Trish onto her back and started walking towards the door, “well then let’s get going, I’m hungry!”

Smiling and shaking her head, Trish pecked Jessica’s cheek only for Jessica to turn her head towards Trish so she could bring their lips together in a soft kiss.

Pulling away smiling, Jessica asked “what was that for?”

Trish just shrugged as she was being carried out the door and towards the elevator, “just because.”

  ----------------------------------------------

The restaurant was nothing like Jessica had imagined. She’d imagined somewhere really fancy with loads of important people around, not somewhere small and comfortable, so she was honestly a little bit surprised when Trish had told her this was where they would be eating. Surprised? Definitely surprised, but disappointed? Not at all, simply happy.

They’d been lead to a booth towards the back of the restaurant, and once they’d taken their seats, Trish shyly spoke up, “I thought you might like this more than some overcrowded Fancy-Nancy place… Plus they have insanely good burgers here, and I know you’d never turn down a kick-ass burger.”

Jessica reached across the table for Trish’s hand, and smiling, she said “it’s perfect Trish.”

The waiter came and took their order a few minutes later, and as he left Trish took a minute to just look at Jessica, who was currently sat talking to Malcolm on the phone. He’d called three times before Trish told Jessica to ‘just answer the damn phone, Jess’.

As it turns out, Malcolm just needed a little bit of guidance on one of their new cases, and Jessica was beyond frustrated that she had to spend any time of her and Trish’s date talking to him about ‘basic procedures he should definitely know by now’. Yelling at him through the phone, it took her a couple of minutes to catch the look Trish was giving her, looking at her as if she was the centre of the universe and everything that mattered in the world. Finally noticing the look, however, her deep frown disappeared completely, and as she smiled at Trish she said goodbye to Malcolm. “Stare much?”

Trish shook her head lightly, letting out an airy laugh, “sorry, sometimes I’m just having a hard time believing this is real… You are so great, Jess, and I just don’t understand how I’m what you want.”

Jessica gave Trish’s hand a squeeze and said, “Trish, you are smart, and funny, and you’re flawed but perfect in every way. You are absolutely beautiful inside out, and you are everything I want and more.”

“I love you.”

“And I love you.”

  ----------------------------------------------

A few weeks after their second date, they had fallen into comfortable routines, both Trish and Jessica feeling happier than ever, neither missing anything or feeling empty anymore. Jessica kept up the little things that brightens up Trish’s days, she’d practically stopped drinking, and she tells Trish on a daily basis that she loves her, making sure Trish knows. _Just in case,_ she tells herself. Trish never stopped trying, even if just for one minute, to make Jessica happy, because Jessica did so much for her just by staying. She knew Jessica had moments she wanted to leave because of one thing or another, but she didn’t. And Trish spent every moment of her day, letting Jessica know how much it meant, letting Jessica feel how much she means to Trish.

This is why, when Trish wakes up from a nap one day to find that Jessica is nowhere to be found, and there are no notes, no messages – no nothing – telling her where she’s gone off to, she can’t help but feel the panic rise in her chest. _She’s coming back. She has to come back. She loves you… She wouldn’t leave you. She’ll be back._

Despite her attempts at calming down, Trish ends up on the couch, legs pulled up to her chest, tears streaming down her cheeks at a steady pace, her mind driving her crazy. She knows deep down that Jessica wouldn’t leave, but a tiny voice always creeps through to tell her she can never be 100% sure.

After what feels like an eternity, Trish hears the door open and her head snaps up to see Jessica closing the door behind her. She all but jumps off the couch and runs up to her, going from upset and broken to thoroughly pissed off within one second. She fists her hands and push Jessica back into the door with all her force, knowing it won’t hurt Jessica much anyway, while still crying and yelling “what the fuck, Jessica! Where the hell were you?!”

Jessica is sure the panic in her face is clearly visible as she stumbles across her words trying to explain, “I was just- uhh, I was just- jesus Trish. I was just right around the corner… I was just getting us dinner,” she carefully holds up a bag of takeout, “what’s uhh, what are you- are you okay?”

Trish nearly falls, exhausted from worrying, only to be caught by Jessica before she hits the floor. Jessica sets the food down on the counter and pics Trish up, carrying her over to the couch where she sits down with Trish in her lap. She runs her fingers through blonde hair, softly talking to Trish, desperately trying to calm her down. After a few minutes, from where her face was buried in the crook of Jessica’s neck, Trish mumbles between sobs, “I thought you’d left again…”

Jessica’s hand stops dead in its tracks, _of course… Going out while she’s sleeping, not leaving a note, not answering my cell because I forgot to charge the damn thing, not saying anything - just leaving… God I am such an idiot._ “I am such an idiot…” Jessica repeats, out loud this time. “Will you look at me for a moment, please?” she softly asks. As Trish turns her head and finds Jessica’s eyes through her own teary ones, Jessica cups her face and in the most sincere and soft, yet confident, voice, she says “I’m not going anywhere, Trish - never again. I will always come back to you. No matter what happens, at the end of the day, I will always be right here. With you. Where I belong.”

Trish’s cries quiets down completely after a moment and she carefully says “I thought I’d become too much for you, I thought you didn’t want me anymore… I thought you needed space.” 

Jessica smiled then, leaning down and giving Trish a firm kiss before looking into those bright green universe eyes, and as if it were the most obvious thing ever she says, “there’s no air in space, Trish.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's the end of this one, unfortunately(?). Yes, the ending that happened there (and the title) is partly courtesy of Rainbow Rowell, so thanks to her for that one! Lastly, I had fun writing this and I hope you had fun reading it - either way, thank you for doing so.
> 
> Later gators!


End file.
